OpenAI · OpenAI EU Terms of Use · View original document ↗

Prohibition on Reverse Engineering and Competitive Use

Medium severity Medium confidence Explicitdocumentlanguage Unique · 0 of 325 platforms
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This analysis describes what OpenAI'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

ConductAtlas Analysis

Why it matters (compliance & governance perspective)

This provision restricts competitive and reverse-engineering uses of the service, which may be of particular relevance to AI researchers, developers, and companies in the technology sector, and interacts with EU software protection and interoperability rights under the Software Directive.

Interpretive note: EU Directive 2009/24/EC provides non-waivable reverse engineering rights for interoperability that may limit enforceability of this clause as applied to certain technical activities; scope is legally uncertain.

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

The agreement states that content submitted to OpenAI services may be used to provide and improve services, which may include AI model training depending on applicable settings and account type. European users retain GDPR-based rights to access, correct, and delete personal data held by OpenAI, and the EU contracting entity is OpenAI Ireland Limited. You can exercise data subject rights including deletion and data export through OpenAI's privacy request portal at https://privacy.openai.com.

How other platforms handle this

Mistral AI Medium

Customer will not, and will not permit any other person (including any End User) to: ... (d) attempt to reverse engineer, decompile, or otherwise attempt to discover the source code or underlying components (e.g., algorithms, weights, or systems) of the Mistral AI Products, including using the Outpu...

Cohere Medium

You agree not to (and not to allow any third party to): (i) decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, attempt to derive the source code of, or decrypt the Services; (ii) make any modification, adaptation, improvement, enhancement, translation or derivative work from the Services; (iii) violate any a...

Midjourney Medium

You may not access or use the Services for purposes of developing or offering competitive products or services. You may not reverse engineer the Services or the Assets. You may not use automated tools to access, interact with, or generate Assets through the Services. You may not resell or redistribu...

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▸ View Original Clause Language DOCUMENT RECORD
"
You may not: (i) use the Services to develop or improve a competing product or service; (ii) reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to discover the source code or underlying components of the Services; or (iii) use automated means to access or interact with the Services except through the API as permitted by OpenAI.

— Excerpt from OpenAI's OpenAI EU Terms of Use

Applicable regulations

CFAA
United States Federal
DMCA
United States Federal
DSA
European Union
Trump Executive Order on AI Policy Framework
US

Provision details

Document information
Document
OpenAI EU Terms of Use
Entity
OpenAI
Document last updated
May 11, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
May 11, 2026
Last verified
May 12, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-010527
Document ID
CA-D-00756
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
Content hash (SHA-256)
de276a8b3e29086fd981e998740a2283e9064e408cbd12835efb4a7406685da7
Analysis generated
May 11, 2026 11:32 UTC
Methodology
Evidence
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Hash verified
Citation Record
Entity: OpenAI
Document: OpenAI EU Terms of Use
Record ID: CA-P-010527
Captured: 2026-05-11 11:32:02 UTC
SHA-256: de276a8b3e29086f…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/openai/openai-eu-terms-of-use/prohibition-on-reverse-engineering-and-competitive-use/
Accessed: May 13, 2026
Permanent archival reference. Stable identifier suitable for legal filings, compliance documentation, and research citation.
Classification
Severity
Medium
Categories

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does OpenAI's Prohibition on Reverse Engineering and Competitive Use clause do?

This provision restricts competitive and reverse-engineering uses of the service, which may be of particular relevance to AI researchers, developers, and companies in the technology sector, and interacts with EU software protection and interoperability rights under the Software Directive.

Is ConductAtlas affiliated with OpenAI?

No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by OpenAI.