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Hardcoded Absolute Prohibitions

High severity Unique · 0 of 343 platforms
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Recent governance activity OpenAI recorded 16 documented changes in the last 30 days.
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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)

The provision operationalizes OpenAI's authority to embed non-negotiable control parameters in model behavior independent of user direction. This establishes the institutional mechanism through which certain outputs or actions are systemically prevented regardless of how users structure requests.

Clause Stability Stable

0
Changes
3
Months Monitored
Apr 3, 2026
First Seen
Apr 10, 2026
Last Seen
This clause type exists across 560 other provisions on other platforms.

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

Users operate under terms that authorize OpenAI to define and enforce predetermined behavioral boundaries in model responses. Users' ability to direct model output is limited by these embedded constraints, which OpenAI applies based on its assessment of potential harms.

How other platforms handle this

Teachable Medium

You agree not to post, upload, publish, submit or transmit any content that: (i) infringes, misappropriates or violates a third party's patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, moral rights or other intellectual property rights, or rights of publicity or privacy; (ii) violates, or encourages any ...

Wise Medium

You may not use our Services for any illegal purpose or in violation of any laws or regulations. You may not use the Services to send money to sanctioned countries or individuals on government watchlists. You may not use the Services for gambling, illegal drugs, weapons, or any other prohibited acti...

Redfin Medium

You may not automatedly crawl or query the Services for any purpose or by any means (including, without limitation, screen and database scraping, spiders, robots, crawlers and any other automated activity with the purpose of obtaining information from the Services) unless you have received prior exp...

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▸ View Original Clause Language DOCUMENT RECORD
"
Hardcoded behaviors are things OpenAI's models should always or never do regardless of operator and user instructions. They are actions or abstentions whose potential harms to the world or to trust in OpenAI or our models are so severe that we think no business or personal justification could outweigh the cost of engaging in them.

— Excerpt from OpenAI's Usage Policies

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
Usage Policies
Entity
OpenAI
Document last updated
March 5, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
March 10, 2026
Last verified
May 12, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-000037
Document ID
CA-D-00005
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
Content hash (SHA-256)
d69a24617758e5b44e4be8eedeceb598a26dc4e280f2ab1469a45b64203e7403
Analysis generated
March 10, 2026 03:28 UTC
Methodology
Evidence
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Hash verified
Citation Record
Entity: OpenAI
Document: Usage Policies
Record ID: CA-P-000037
Captured: 2026-03-10 03:28:59 UTC
SHA-256: d69a24617758e5b4…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/openai/usage-policies/hardcoded-absolute-prohibitions/
Accessed: July 4, 2026
Permanent archival reference. Stable identifier suitable for legal filings, compliance documentation, and research citation.
Classification
Severity
High
Categories

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does OpenAI's Hardcoded Absolute Prohibitions clause do?

The provision operationalizes OpenAI's authority to embed non-negotiable control parameters in model behavior independent of user direction. This establishes the institutional mechanism through which certain outputs or actions are systemically prevented regardless of how users structure requests.

How does this clause affect you?

Users operate under terms that authorize OpenAI to define and enforce predetermined behavioral boundaries in model responses. Users' ability to direct model output is limited by these embedded constraints, which OpenAI applies based on its assessment of potential harms.

Is ConductAtlas affiliated with OpenAI?

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