The policy prohibits using OpenAI services to provide assistance in creating biological, chemical, nuclear, or radiological weapons capable of mass casualties.
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
This restriction applies across all products and APIs and cannot be overridden by operator configuration, reflecting an absolute safety boundary that OpenAI's model alignment is also designed to enforce.
Interpretive note: Verbatim text could not be extracted from the binary PDF. The provision is inferred from document metadata and publicly available OpenAI Usage Policy language consistent with this document version.
Users who attempt to use ChatGPT or the API to obtain technical guidance on creating weapons capable of mass casualties are in violation of this policy and subject to account termination, and such attempts may be flagged to relevant authorities.
How other platforms handle this
You may not use the Shopify Services to offer, sell, or facilitate the sale of: Firearms and certain weapons: Firearms that are designed to kill or injure others (excluding legitimate retailers who comply with all applicable laws), illegal knives, illegal weapons modifications including silencers, b...
Users may not use ElevenLabs' platform to generate voice content for the purpose of committing fraud, including financial fraud, identity theft, or unauthorized impersonation for financial gain.
You may not use the Services to generate content that violates applicable laws or regulations, including content that is defamatory, obscene, fraudulent, or that infringes the intellectual property rights of any third party.
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1. REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: This provision engages export control frameworks including the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) administered by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), and the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act. Dual-use research of concern (DURC) frameworks administered by the NIH and biosafety regulators are also implicated for biological weapon assistance. The FTC Act is relevant to the extent that misrepresentation of safety capabilities would constitute an unfair or deceptive practice. 2. GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: High. Operators deploying OpenAI models in research, defense, or biotechnology contexts must implement layered content filters specifically targeting requests for weapons-of-mass-destruction-relevant technical information. Failure to do so could constitute a violation of export control law independent of this policy. 3. JURISDICTION FLAGS: This obligation applies globally, with heightened exposure in the US (EAR, ITAR), EU (dual-use goods regulation), and jurisdictions that are signatories to the Biological Weapons Convention and Chemical Weapons Convention. Research institutions and defense contractors face the highest exposure. 4. CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Procurement teams in defense, research, and biotech sectors should conduct specific due diligence on OpenAI's safety filter capabilities, including whether operator-level system prompts can inadvertently bypass these restrictions. Contracts should include representations about compliance with applicable export control laws. 5. COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Organizations deploying OpenAI in research contexts should conduct a dual-use research risk assessment. Compliance programs should include training on prohibited queries and monitoring for attempts to extract weapons-relevant information through prompt engineering.
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This restriction applies across all products and APIs and cannot be overridden by operator configuration, reflecting an absolute safety boundary that OpenAI's model alignment is also designed to enforce.
Users who attempt to use ChatGPT or the API to obtain technical guidance on creating weapons capable of mass casualties are in violation of this policy and subject to account termination, and such attempts may be flagged to relevant authorities.
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