Terms Of Service

Welcome to Backus! Before you access our services, please read these User Terms of Service.

These Terms of Service ("Terms") and our Usage Policy (also referred to as our “Acceptable Use Policy” or “AUP”) set out the agreement between you and Backus (“Backus”) to use our products and services that we may offer for individuals, along with any associated apps, software, and websites (together, our “Services”). Please take some time to read over them and understand them. By agreeing to these Terms, or in the absence of such agreement, by using the Services, you agree to be bound by them, including any changes made to them in accordance with the Terms. Our affiliates, licensors, distributors, and service providers (collectively “Providers”) are not contracting parties under these Terms.

These Terms apply to you if you are a consumer who is resident in the European Economic Area or Switzerland. You are a consumer if you are acting wholly or mainly outside your trade, business, craft or profession in using our Services.

In these Terms, when we refer to “we”, “us” or “our,” or similar, we mean Backus. Other words in bold and inverted commas have the meaning given to them where the word or phrase is first used. Subsequent uses of these words have the same meaning.

Please read our Privacy Policy, which describes how we collect and use personal information.

1. Who we are.

Backus is an AI safety and research company working to build reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems. We conduct frontier research, develop and apply a variety of safety techniques, and deploy the resulting systems via a set of partnerships and products.

2. Account creation and access.

Minimum age. You must be at least 18 years old to use the Services.

Your Backus Account. To access our Services, we may ask you to create an account (your “Account”), to provide certain information (such as your email address), and to create a password. You agree to provide correct, current, and complete information and allow us to use it to communicate with you about our Services. You agree to notify us promptly if there are any changes to the information you have provided to us. Our communications to you using such information will satisfy any requirements for legal notices.

You may not share your Account login information, Backus API key, or Account credentials with anyone else or make your Account available to anyone else. You are responsible for all activity occurring under your Account and agree to notify us immediately if you become aware of any unauthorized access to your Account by sending an email to support@backus.ai.

You may close your Account at any time by contacting us at support@backus.ai.

Business Domains. If you use an email address owned by your employer or another organization, your Account may be linked to the organization’s enterprise account with us and the organization’s administrator may be able to monitor and control the Account, including having access to Materials (defined below). We will provide notice to you before linking your Account to an organization's enterprise account. However, if the organization is responsible for notifying you or has already informed you that it may monitor and control your Account, we may not provide additional notice.

Evaluation and Additional Services. In some cases, we may permit you to evaluate our Services for a limited time or with limited functionality. Use of our Services for evaluation purposes are for your personal, non-commercial use only.

You may need to accept additional terms to use certain Services. These additional terms will supplement our Terms for those Services and may change your rights or obligations for those Services, including your obligations to pay fees.

3. Use of our Services.

You may access and use our Services only in compliance with our Terms, our Acceptable Use Policy, and guidelines or supplemental terms we may post on the Services (the “Permitted Use”).

You may not access or use, or help another person to access or use, our Services in the following ways:

1. In any manner that violates any applicable law or regulation—including, without limitation, any laws about exporting data or software to and from any countries in the European Economic Area, Switzerland, or other countries.
2. To develop any products or services that compete with our Services, including to develop or train any artificial intelligence or machine learning algorithms or models.
3. To decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, or otherwise reduce our Services to human-readable form, except when these restrictions are prohibited by applicable law.
4. To crawl, scrape, or otherwise harvest data or information from our Services other than as permitted under these Terms.
5. To use our Services or Materials to obtain unauthorized access to any system or information or to deceive any person.
6. To infringe, misappropriate, or violate intellectual property or other legal rights (including the rights of publicity or privacy).
7. Except when you are accessing our Services via an Backus API Key or where we otherwise explicitly permit it, to access the Services through automated or non-human means, whether through a bot, script, or otherwise.
8. To engage in any other conduct that restricts or inhibits any person from using or enjoying our Services, or that we reasonably consider exposes us—or any of our users, affiliates, or any other third party—to any liability, damages, or detriment of any type, including reputational harms.

You also must not abuse, harm, interfere with, or disrupt our Services, including, for example, introducing viruses or malware, spamming or DDoSing Services, or bypassing any of our systems or protective measures.

4. Prompts, Outputs, and Materials.

You may be allowed to submit text, documents, or other materials to our Services for processing (we call these “Prompts”). Our Services may generate responses based on your Prompts (we call these “Outputs”). Prompts and Outputs collectively are “Materials.”

Rights to Materials. You are responsible for all Prompts you submit to our Services. You must ensure that you have all rights, licenses, and permissions that are necessary for us to process such Prompts in accordance with our Terms. You must ensure that your submission of Prompts to us will not violate our Terms, our Acceptable Use Policy, or any laws or regulations applicable to those Prompts. As between you and Backus, and to the extent permitted by applicable law, you retain any right, title, and interest that you have in such Prompts. Subject to your compliance with our Terms, we assign to you all our right, title, and interest (if any) in Outputs.

Reliance on Outputs. Artificial intelligence and large language models are frontier technologies that are still improving in accuracy, reliability and safety. When you use our Services, you acknowledge and agree:

1. Outputs may not always be accurate and may contain material inaccuracies even if they appear accurate because of their level of detail or specificity.
2. You should not rely on any Outputs without independently confirming their accuracy.
3. The Services and any Outputs may not reflect correct, current, or complete information.
4. Outputs may contain content that is inconsistent with Backus’s views.

Our use of Materials. We may use Materials to provide, maintain, and improve the Services and to develop other products and services. We will not train our models on any Materials that are not publicly available, except in two circumstances:

1. If you provide Feedback to us (through the Services or otherwise) regarding any Materials, we may use that Feedback in accordance with Section 5 (Feedback).
2. If your Materials are flagged for trust and safety review, we may use or analyze those Materials to improve our ability to detect and enforce Acceptable Use Policy violations, including training models for use by our trust and safety team, consistent with Backus’s safety mission.

Limitations. Different types of Service (including paid-for Services under a Subscription) may have technical restrictions associated with them, for example, the number of Prompts you may submit to the Service or the number of Outputs you may receive within a certain period of time (“Technical Limitation”). For more information about the Technical Limitations for each type of Service offering, see the relevant purchase page on our website.

5. Feedback

We appreciate feedback, including ideas and suggestions for improvement or rating an Output in response to a Prompt (“Feedback”). If you rate an Output in response to a Prompt—for example, by using the thumbs up/thumbs down icon—we will store the related conversation as part of your Feedback. You have no obligation to give us Feedback, but if you do, you agree that we may use the Feedback however we choose without any obligation or other payment to you.

6. Third-party services and links

Our Services may use or be used in connection with third-party content, services, or integrations. We do not control or accept responsibility for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of any third-party content, services, and integrations, for which we make no representations or warranties. Your use of any third-party content, services, and integrations is at your own risk and subject to any terms, conditions, or policies (including privacy policies) applicable to such third-party content, services, and integrations.

7. Software

We may offer manual or automatic updates to our software including our apps (“Backus Software”), without advance notice to you. Backus Software may include open source software. In the event of any conflict between these Terms and any other Backus or third-party terms applicable to any portion of Backus Software, such as open-source license terms, such other terms will control as to that portion of the Backus Software and to the extent of the conflict.

8. Ownership of the Services

The Services are owned, operated, and provided by us and, where applicable, our Providers. We and our Providers retain all our respective rights, title, and interest, including intellectual property rights, in and to the Services. Other than the rights of access and use expressly granted in our Terms, our Terms do not grant you any right, title, or interest in or to our Services.

9. Disclaimer of warranties, limitations of liability, and indemnity

Our team works hard to provide great services, and we’re continuously working on improvements. However, there are certain aspects we can’t guarantee.

No warranties. You may have legal rights in relation to our Services, including where the Services are not as described, faulty or otherwise not fit for purpose. If you believe that any of our Services that you have ordered do not conform with these Terms, please contact us at support@backus.ai. Other than those legal rights, your use of the Services and Materials is solely at your own risk. The Services and Outputs are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis and, to the fullest extent permissible under applicable law, are provided without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory. We and our Providers expressly disclaim any and all warranties of fitness for a particular purpose, title, merchantability, accuracy, availability, reliability, security, privacy, compatibility, non-infringement, and any warranty implied by course of dealing, course of performance, or trade usage.

No limitation. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability for:

1. death or personal injury caused by our negligence;
2. fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; and
3. any matter in respect of which it would be unlawful for us to exclude or restrict our liability. This includes your rights that the Services are of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described.

Foreseeable loss. Except as set out in No Limitation above, we and our Providers are not responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable. Loss or damage is foreseeable if it was an obvious consequence of our breach or if it was contemplated by you and us at the time that you accessed our Services, or if you have a Subscription, at the time that the agreement between you and us related to your Subscription become binding (i.e., when the confirmation email for that Subscription was issued).

Non-commercial use only. You agree that you will not use our Services for any commercial or business purposes and we and our Providers have no liability to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption, or loss of business opportunity.

Your rights. Nothing in these Terms affects your statutory rights and we are under a legal duty to provide you with Services that are in conformity with the terms applying to our Services. Advice about your statutory rights is available from your local Citizens’ Information Board (or local equivalent, if applicable).

Limitation of liability. Except as otherwise set out in No Limitation above, our total liability to you for any loss or damage arising out of or in connection with these Terms, whether in contract (including under any indemnity), tort (including negligence) or otherwise will be limited to the greater of: (a) the amount you paid to us for access to or use of the Services in the six months prior to the event giving rise to the liability, and (b) €100.

Beneficiaries. Our Providers may benefit from, and enforce, their rights under this Section 10.

10. General terms

Changes to Services. Our Services are novel and will change. We may sometimes add or remove features, increase or decrease capacity limits, offer new Services, or stop offering old ones. We may modify, suspend, or discontinue the Services or your access to the Services. Where those actions will materially impact your use of the Services, we will endeavor to notify you in accordance with this section. This includes taking such action as we consider appropriate to address any security, performance or trust and safety issue.

Where feasible, we will provide you with at least 30 days’ advance notice of any such changes to the Services that would materially limit or reduce the features, availability or functionality of the Services. However, there may be urgent situations (such as preventing abuse, responding to legal requirements, or addressing security and operability issues) where providing advance notice is not feasible.

If you do not wish to continue using the Services following material changes to the Services, please cancel your Account (or the Subscription purchased via our website, if applicable) by notifying us at support@backus.ai and we will refund you a portion of the fees paid by you that are for the portion of your Subscription purchased via our website remaining after termination of your Subscription occurs. Any refunds for Subscriptions purchased via an App Distributor are subject to the App Distributor’s terms and not these Terms.

Changes to these Terms. We may revise and update these Terms. For example, we may update these Terms (1) to reflect changes in our Services, like when we add or remove features or services, or update our pricing, (2) for security or legal reasons, or (3) to promote safety or prevent abuse. We will notify you of changes to the Terms which are reasonably likely to affect your use of the Services or legal rights. These changes will come into effect no less than 30 days from when we notify you, unless the change is due to a change in law or for security reasons (in which case we may need to change the Terms on shorter notice).

If you do not wish to continue using our Services following any changes to the Terms you can terminate these Terms (or a Subscription purchased via our website) by notifying us at support@backus.ai, before the changes take effect. If you exercise this termination right, we will refund to you a portion of the fees paid by you that are for the portion of your Subscription purchased via our website remaining after termination of your Subscription occurs. Any refunds for Subscriptions purchased via an App Distributor are subject to the App Distributor’s terms and not these Terms.

Supplemental Terms. We may also post supplemental terms. We may offer new Services or features that we believe require service-specific terms or guidelines. If you decide to use those new Services or features, you agree to comply with any applicable guidelines, rules, or supplemental terms that may be posted on the Services from time to time (“Supplemental Terms”). If these Terms conflict with Supplemental Terms, the Supplemental Terms will govern for the applicable Service.

Termination. You may stop accessing the Services at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access to the Services at any time without notice to you if:

1. we believe that you have materially breached these Terms;
2. we must do so in order to comply with applicable law; or
3. immediate suspension or termination is necessary for security reasons and therefore we cannot provide notice.

We may also terminate your Account if you have been inactive for over a year and you do not have a paid Account. If we decide to terminate your Account due to inactivity, we will give you advance notice before doing this.

If we terminate your access to the Services due to a material breach of these Terms and you have a Subscription:

1. you will not be entitled to any refund; and
2. we may take further legal action against you and you may be responsible for our losses in relation to the violation of these Terms.

If you have a Subscription, we may terminate the Subscription at any time by giving you at least 30 days’ notice in writing (email is sufficient). If we exercise this right, we will refund you on a pro rata basis the fees paid by you for the remaining portion of your Subscription after termination.

Upon termination of these Terms, a Subscription, or your access to the Services, the rights granted to you under our Terms (or any Subscription) to access and use our Services will immediately terminate, and we may at our option delete any Materials or other data associated with your account. Sections 6 (with respect to fees outstanding as of such expiration or termination) and 8 – 11 will survive any expiration or termination of our Terms or a Subscription.

Severability. Each of the sections of these Terms operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful or unenforceable, the remaining sections will remain in full force and effect.

No waiver. If we fail to insist that you perform any of your obligations under these Terms, or if we do not enforce our rights against you, or if we delay in doing so, that will not mean that we have waived our rights against you and will not mean that you do not have to comply with those obligations. If we waive a default by you, we will only do so in writing, and that will not mean that we will automatically waive any later default by you.

No assignment. These Terms may not be transferred or assigned by you without our prior written consent, but may be assigned by us without restriction.

Use of our brand. You may not, without our prior written permission, use our name, logos, or other trademarks in connection with products or services other than the Services, or in any other way that implies our affiliation, endorsement, or sponsorship. To seek permission, please email us at support@backus.ai.

Export Controls. You may not export or provide access to the Services into any U.S. embargoed countries or to anyone on (i) the U.S. Treasury Department’s list of Specially Designated Nationals, (ii) any other restricted party lists identified by the Office of Foreign Asset Control, (iii) the U.S. Department of Commerce Denied Persons List or Entity List, or (iv) any other restricted party lists. You agree that you and anyone accessing or using the Services on your behalf, or using your Account credentials, are not such persons or entities and are not located in any such country.

Legal Compliance. We may comply with governmental, court, and law enforcement requests or requirements relating to provision or use of the Services, or to information provided to or collected under our Terms. We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to report information from or about you, including but not limited to Prompts or Outputs, to law enforcement.

12. In case of disputes

Governing Law and Jurisdiction. These Terms are governed by Irish law. This means that your access to and use of our Services, and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection therewith (including non-contractual disputes or claims) will be governed by Irish law, and must be brought in a competent court in Ireland. However, if you are a consumer within the European Economic Area or Switzerland, you may also file legal disputes in your local courts, based on your local laws.

If you are resident in the European Economic Area and wish to have more information on online dispute resolution, please follow this link to the website of the European Commission: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/. This link is provided as required by Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council, for information purposes only. We are not obliged to participate in online dispute resolution.

Contacting us

Should you have any reasons for a complaint, we will endeavour to resolve the issue and avoid any re-occurrence in the future. You can always contact us by using the following details:

Address: 27/29 Orwell Road, Rathgar, Dublin 6, Ireland and/or 548 Market Street, PMB 90375, San Francisco, CA 94104, USA

Email address: support@backus.ai

Appendix 1

Model Cancellation Form

[Complete and return this form only if you wish to cancel the contract]

To: Backus Ireland, Limited (support@backus.ai, 27/29 Orwell Road, Rathgar, Dublin 6, Ireland):

Subject: Cancellation Request

• I/We [*] hereby give notice that I/We [*] cancel my/our [*] contract of sale for the following goods [*] for the provision of the following service [*]:
• Ordered on [*]/Received on [*]:
• Name of Consumer(s):
• Email address of Consumer(s) used to process the order:
• Address of Consumer(s):
• Signature of Consumer(s): (only if this form is notified on paper)
• Date: