OpenAI · Usage Policies · View original document ↗

Prohibition on Malicious Code and Cyberweapons

High severity Medium confidence Explicitdocumentlanguage 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)

This restriction operates as a use case boundary that OpenAI enforces through its acceptable use policy framework. The provision establishes operational parameters for what development activities the service platform will support.

Interpretive note: The threshold of 'significant damage' is not defined, and the boundary between permissible security research and prohibited cyberweapon development is ambiguous in the document text.

Clause Stability Stable

0
Changes
3
Months Monitored
May 10, 2026
First Seen
May 11, 2026
Last Seen
This clause type exists across 560 other provisions on other platforms.

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

Users are prohibited from leveraging OpenAI's services for cyberweapon or malicious code development. The terms apply this restriction to all users regardless of use case or stated intent, establishing this as a binding operational constraint on service access.

How other platforms handle this

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...

PayPal Medium

relate to transactions involving (f) the promotion of hate, violence, racial or other forms of intolerance that is discriminatory or the financial exploitation of a crime... (i) involve offering or receiving payments for the purpose of bribery or corruption.

Stripe Medium

You must not, and must not allow others to: Facilitate illegal or harmful activity through the End User Services; Cause harm to us or others through the End User Services;

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▸ View Original Clause Language DOCUMENT RECORD
"
Create cyberweapons or malicious code that could cause significant damage if deployed

— 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-009457
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-009457
Captured: 2026-03-10 03:28:59 UTC
SHA-256: d69a24617758e5b4…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/openai/usage-policies/prohibition-on-malicious-code-and-cyberweapons/
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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Built from archived source documents, structured governance mappings, and historical version tracking.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does OpenAI's Prohibition on Malicious Code and Cyberweapons clause do?

This restriction operates as a use case boundary that OpenAI enforces through its acceptable use policy framework. The provision establishes operational parameters for what development activities the service platform will support.

How does this clause affect you?

Users are prohibited from leveraging OpenAI's services for cyberweapon or malicious code development. The terms apply this restriction to all users regardless of use case or stated intent, establishing this as a binding operational constraint on service access.

Is ConductAtlas affiliated with OpenAI?

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