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The agreement prohibits reverse engineering, creation of derivative works, competitive product development, publication of benchmark or performance results, and use of the platform for High-Risk Activities (defined as activities where failure could lead to death, personal injury, or damage to public critical infrastructure), among other restrictions.
This analysis describes what LangChain's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
The prohibition on publishing benchmarks or comparative performance results restricts Customer's ability to publicly evaluate or compare the LangSmith Platform against competing products. The High-Risk Activities prohibition excludes deployment scenarios involving life-safety or critical infrastructure contexts, which has direct implications for certain regulated industry use cases.
Interpretive note: The enforceability of benchmark non-disclosure restrictions may vary by jurisdiction and applicable competition law; in some jurisdictions such restrictions may be unenforceable as applied to lawful comparative research or regulatory compliance activities.
The updated terms introduce a new deployment architecture option (BYOC) alongside existing Cloud and Hybrid options, giving customers more control over infrastructure placement. LangChain's explicit commitment to not use customer data for large language model training now has clear written language in the Terms, whereas the prior version only referenced 'products' generically. However, the expanded non-warranty clause now states the platform is not warranted to be 'accurate' or 'complete,' which broadens the disclaimers of liability. Customers should review which deployment option aligns with their infrastructure and compliance requirements.
View change record →Under this clause, Customer and its Users are contractually prohibited from reverse engineering the platform, developing competing products using LangSmith, or publishing benchmark or performance comparisons. Use in contexts involving potential for death, personal injury, or damage to critical infrastructure is explicitly excluded from the license.
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"Customer may not, directly or indirectly, and may not authorize any third party to: (a) decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, translate, adapt, modify, or create derivative works of the LangSmith Platform or Documentation, or otherwise attempt to derive the source code, structure, ideas, algorithms, or underlying know-how of the LangSmith Platform, or discover any non-public elements thereof (except to the extent expressly permitted by applicable law notwithstanding this restriction); ... (c) use the LangSmith Platform to develop a similar or competing product or service, or to publish or disclose benchmarks, performance results, or comparative information regarding the LangSmith Platform; ... (g) use the LangSmith Platform for High-Risk Activities.Excerpt from LangChain's Terms of Service
(1) REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: The benchmark non-disclosure restriction may interact with regulatory expectations in certain jurisdictions where AI system transparency or comparative evaluation is required by law or regulatory guidance, including emerging EU AI Act provisions regarding high-risk AI system documentation. The High-Risk Activities exclusion engages product liability and regulatory frameworks in sectors such as healthcare, aviation, and critical infrastructure. (2) GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: Medium. The prohibition on benchmarking or publishing comparative performance results limits Customer's ability to conduct and disclose third-party evaluations of the platform, which may conflict with internal AI governance policies requiring documented performance assessments. (3) JURISDICTION FLAGS: The EU AI Act may impose transparency and documentation obligations on organizations deploying AI in high-risk categories that interact with the High-Risk Activities exclusion in this Agreement. Organizations subject to sector-specific AI regulations should assess whether their use cases fall within the prohibited High-Risk Activities definition. (4) CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Organizations in regulated industries (healthcare, financial services, critical infrastructure) should assess whether their intended deployment contexts qualify as High-Risk Activities under the Agreement's definition before proceeding with Order Form execution. The benchmark restriction may require negotiation for organizations with contractual or regulatory obligations to publish AI system performance evaluations. (5) COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: AI governance teams should document whether their LangSmith use cases involve any activities that could be characterized as High-Risk Activities, and should assess whether internal AI performance evaluation workflows involve publication of comparative data that would be restricted under this provision.
The prohibition on publishing benchmarks or comparative performance results restricts Customer's ability to publicly evaluate or compare the LangSmith Platform against competing products. The High-Risk Activities prohibition excludes deployment scenarios involving life-safety or critical infrastructure contexts, which has direct implications for certain regulated industry use cases.
Under this clause, Customer and its Users are contractually prohibited from reverse engineering the platform, developing competing products using LangSmith, or publishing benchmark or performance comparisons. Use in contexts involving potential for death, personal injury, or damage to critical infrastructure is explicitly excluded from the license.
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