OpenAI · Terms of Use (ROW)

User Indemnification Obligation

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What it is

You will indemnify, defend, and hold harmless us, our affiliates, and our personnel, from and against any claims, losses, and expenses (including attorneys' fees) arising from or relating to your use of the Services, including your Content, products or services you develop or offer in connection with the Services, and your breach of these Terms or violation of applicable law.

Why it matters

This clause places potentially unlimited financial liability on individual users for their use of ChatGPT, including covering OpenAI's attorneys' fees, which is an unusually broad indemnification obligation for a consumer-facing service.

Consumer impact

OpenAI's Terms of Use give the company a broad license to use content you submit — including your conversations with ChatGPT — to train and improve its AI models, which means your personal inputs could influence future AI behavior at scale. The mandatory arbitration clause and class action waiver significantly limit your ability to seek collective legal remedies if something goes wrong, a provision that may surprise many everyday users. You can opt out of having your data used for model training by going to Settings > Data Controls in your ChatGPT account and disabling 'Improve the model for everyone.'

Applicable agencies

  • FTC
    The FTC has authority under Section 5 to challenge unfair or deceptive consumer contract terms, including disproportionate indemnification obligations imposed on consumers in adhesion contracts.
    File a complaint →
  • State AG
    State Attorneys General can challenge unfair consumer contract terms under state consumer protection statutes, including California's UCL (Bus. & Prof. Code §17200) and New York's GBL §349.
    File a complaint →

Provision details

Document information
Document
Terms of Use (ROW)
Entity
OpenAI
Document last updated
March 5, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
March 10, 2026
Last verified
April 4, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-001993
Document ID
CA-D-00007
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
SHA-256
3a064f11bc2cb0f491e5ad76938f2712026c1d020c9f8b50528f8c7b639a4f7f
Verified
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Change verified
How to Cite
ConductAtlas Policy Archive
Entity: OpenAI | Document: Terms of Use (ROW) | Record: CA-P-001993
Captured: 2026-03-10 03:31:52 UTC | SHA-256: 3a064f11bc2cb0f4…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/openai/terms-of-use-row/user-indemnification-obligation/
Accessed: April 4, 2026
Classification
Severity
High
Categories

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