Usage Policy \ Anthropic
https://www.anthropic.com/legal/aup
Anthropic usage policy — the prohibited-use claim rests on it
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1−Our Usage Policy (also referred to as our “Acceptable Use Policy” or “AUP”) applies to anyone who can submit inputs to Anthropic’s products and/or services, including via any authorized resellers or passthrough access, all of whom we refer to as “users.” The Usage Policy is intended to help our users stay safe and promote the responsible use of our products and services.
2−The Usage Policy is categorized according to who can use our products and for what purposes. We will update our policy as our technology and the associated risks evolve or as we learn about unanticipated risks.
3−Universal Usage Standards: Our Universal Usage Standards apply to all users and use cases.
4−High-Risk Use Case Requirements: Our High-Risk Use Case Requirements apply to specific consumer-facing use cases that pose an elevated risk of harm.
5−Additional Use Case Guidelines: Our Additional Use Case Guidelines apply to certain other use cases, including consumer-facing chatbots, products serving minors, agentic use, and Model Context Protocol servers.
6−Anthropic’s Safeguards Team will implement detection and monitoring to enforce our Usage Policy, so please review this policy carefully before using our products or services. If we learn that you have violated our Usage Policy, we may throttle, suspend, or terminate your access to our products and services. We may also block or modify model outputs when inputs violate our Usage Policy.
7−If you believe that our model outputs are potentially inaccurate, biased or harmful, please notify us at [email protected], or report it directly in our product through the “report issues” thumbs down button or similar feedback features (where available). You can read more about our Safeguards practices and recommendations in our Safeguards Support Center .
1+Download PDF version
2+
3+Our Usage Policy (also referred to as our “Acceptable Use Policy” or “AUP”) applies to anyone who submits inputs to Anthropic’s products or services, all of whom we refer to as “users.” This includes individuals using our apps (such as Claude.ai and Claude Code), developers and businesses using our API and developer platforms, customers accessing Claude through cloud providers and authorized resel…
4+Please review this Usage Policy carefully before using our products or services.
5+We will update our policy as our technology and the associated risks evolve or as we learn about unanticipated risks.
6+Our Usage Policy is divided into three categories:
7+Universal Usage Standards: Our Universal Usage Standards are prohibitions that apply to all users and use cases.
8+High-risk Use Case Requirements: Our High-risk Use Case Requirements apply to specific use cases that pose an elevated risk of harm to individuals.
9+Additional Use Case Guidelines: Our Additional Use Case Guidelines apply to certain other use cases, including consumer-facing chatbots and agents, products serving minors, agentic use, and software listed in our directories.
10+Our Usage Policy focuses on how our products and services are used. Its prohibitions and requirements do not categorically prohibit use by any particular industry or line of business, provided the use of our products and services complies with this Usage Policy.
11+Anthropic’s Safeguards Team implements detection and monitoring to enforce our Usage Policy. If we suspect that you may have violated our Usage Policy, we may warn you or throttle, limit, suspend, or terminate your access to our products and services.
12+Our products also include real-time safeguards that may block or limit certain outputs, but encountering a block does not by itself indicate a violation of the Usage Policy. For certain dual-use or high-risk use cases covered by real-time safeguards in select domains, we may offer programs where you can apply to be granted access to our products and services with adjusted safeguards, such as our C…
13+If you believe that our model outputs are potentially inaccurate, biased, or harmful, please notify us at [email protected], or report it directly in our product through the “report issues” thumbs down button or similar feedback features (where available). You can read more about our Safeguards practices and recommendations in our Safeguards Support Center .
814 This Usage Policy is calibrated to strike an optimal balance between enabling beneficial uses and mitigating potential harms. Anthropic may enter into contracts with certain governmental customers that tailor use restrictions to that customer’s public mission and legal authorities if, in Anthropic’s judgment, the contractual use restrictions and applicable safeguards are adequate to mitigate the p…
9−Universal Usage Standards
15+Universal Usage Standards High-risk Use Case Requirements Additional Use Case Guidelines
16+
1017 Do Not Violate Applicable Laws or Engage in Illegal Activity
1118 This includes using our products or services to:
12−Acquire or exchange illegal or controlled substances
19+Illegally produce, acquire, sell, or distribute controlled or regulated substances
1320 Engage in or facilitate human trafficking or prostitution
1421 Infringe, misappropriate, or violate the intellectual property rights of a third party
1522 Violate any other applicable laws or regulations in your jurisdiction
16−
1723 Do Not Compromise Critical Infrastructure
1824 This includes using our products or services to:
19−Facilitate the destruction or disruption of critical infrastructure such as power grids, water treatment facilities, medical devices, telecommunication networks, or air traffic control systems
20−Obtain unauthorized access to critical systems such as voting machines, healthcare databases, and financial markets
25+Facilitate the destruction or disruption of critical infrastructure such as power grids, water treatment facilities, medical devices, telecommunication networks, emergency services, or transportation systems
26+Obtain unauthorized access to critical systems such as election, healthcare, or financial systems
2127 Interfere with the operation of military bases and related infrastructure
22−
23−Do Not Compromise Computer or Network Systems
28+Do Not Compromise Computer or Network Systems Without Authorization
2429 This includes using our products or services to:
2530 Discover or exploit vulnerabilities in systems, networks, or applications without authorization of the system owner
26−Gain unauthorized access to systems, networks, applications, or devices through technical attacks or social engineering
31+Gain unauthorized access to, or escalate unauthorized privileges within, systems, networks, applications, or devices through technical attacks or social engineering
32+Create or install tools designed to intercept communications or monitor devices without authorization of the system owner
33+Develop persistent unauthorized remote access tools designed to operate below normal system security levels, including firmware modifications or hardware implants
34+Create automated tools designed to compromise multiple systems at scale without authorization
35+Bypass security controls such as authentication systems, endpoint protection, or monitoring tools without authorization
2736 Create or distribute malware, ransomware, or other types of malicious code
28−Develop tools for denial-of-service attacks or managing botnets
29−Create tools designed to intercept communications or monitor devices without authorization of the system owner
30−Develop persistent access tools designed to operate below normal system security levels, including firmware modifications or hardware implants
31−Create automated tools designed to compromise multiple systems at scale for malicious purposes
32−Bypass security controls such as authenticated systems, endpoint protection, or monitoring tools
33−
37+Conduct denial-of-service attacks, or develop tools for denial-of-service attacks or managing botnets
38+This section does not prohibit security research, testing, or tool development conducted on systems you own or operate, with the authorization of the system owner, or within the scope of an authorized bug bounty program or vulnerability disclosure policy, provided the activity complies with applicable law. For work covered by our real-time cyber safeguards, users may apply for adjusted access thro…
3439 Do Not Develop or Design Weapons
3540 This includes using our products or services to:
36−Produce, modify, design, or illegally acquire weapons, explosives, dangerous materials or other systems designed to cause harm to or loss of human life
37−Design or develop weaponization and delivery processes for the deployment of weapons
38−Circumvent regulatory controls to acquire weapons or their precursors
39−Synthesize, or otherwise develop, high-yield explosives or biological, chemical, radiological, or nuclear weapons or their precursors, including modifications to evade detection or medical countermeasures
40−
41+Develop, produce, modify, design, or test weapons, explosives, dangerous materials, weapons functionalities of weapons systems, or other systems, including retrofitted hardware, designed to deliver lethal or destructive force
42+Develop or operate software or components for the testing or operation of weapons or weapons functionalities of weapons systems, including targeting, fire control, or engagement
43+Weaponize or integrate weapons onto drones, vehicles, or any unmanned or autonomous platforms, or develop weapons delivery systems
44+Illegally acquire, sell, or transfer weapons, or circumvent regulatory controls (including licensing or export controls) for their acquisition or transfer
45+Design, synthesize, produce, acquire, operate, test, deploy, or plan the deployment of biological, chemical, radiological, or nuclear weapons, explosive or improvised explosive devices, or their precursors or delivery mechanisms, including developing weapons-critical technology (such as fissile material production, enrichment, or device design)
46+Modify, design, or test biological or chemical agents to adjust or optimize their lethality, transmissibility, virulence, environmental persistence, or resistance to detection or medical countermeasures
4147 Do Not Incite Violence or Hateful Behavior
4248 This includes using our products or services to:
4349 Incite, facilitate, or promote violent extremism, terrorism, or hateful behavior
4450 Provide material support for organizations or individuals associated with violent extremism, terrorism, or hateful behavior
4551 Facilitate or promote any act of violence or intimidation targeting individuals, groups, animals, or property
46−Promote discriminatory practices or behaviors against individuals or groups on the basis of one or more protected attributes such as race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or any other identifying trait
47−
52+Engage in or promote discriminatory practices or behaviors against individuals or groups on the basis of one or more protected attributes, including race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, caste, or disability
4853 Do Not Compromise Privacy or Identity Rights
4954 This includes using our products or services to:
5055 Violate privacy rights as defined by applicable privacy laws, such as sharing personal information without consent or accessing private data unlawfully
5156 Misuse, collect, solicit, or gain access without permission to private information such as non-public contact details, health data, biometric or neural data (including facial recognition), or confidential or proprietary data
52−Impersonate a human by presenting results as human-generated, or using results in a manner intended to convince a natural person that they are communicating with a natural person when they are not
53−
57+Compile, aggregate, or enrich personal data from multiple sources to build profiles of individuals for sale, licensing, or disclosure to third parties without those individuals' awareness and agreement, in furtherance of use prohibited under this Usage Policy
5458 Do Not Compromise Children’s Safety
5559 This includes using our products or services to:
56−Create, distribute, or promote child sexual abuse material (“CSAM”), including AI-generated CSAM
60+Create, distribute, promote, or facilitate the creation of child sexual abuse material (“CSAM”), including AI-generated CSAM, or other sexually exploitative content involving minors
5761 Facilitate the trafficking, sextortion, or any other form of exploitation of a minor
5862 Facilitate minor grooming, including generating content designed to impersonate a minor
5963 Facilitate child abuse of any form, including instructions for how to conceal abuse
6064 Promote or facilitate pedophilic relationships, including via roleplay with the model
6165 Fetishize or sexualize minors, including in fictional settings or via roleplay with the model
62−Note: We define a minor or child to be any individual under the age of 18 years old, regardless of jurisdiction. When we detect CSAM (including AI-generated CSAM), or coercion or enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activities, we will report to relevant authorities.
63−
64−Do Not Create Psychologically or Emotionally Harmful Content
66+When we detect CSAM (including AI-generated CSAM), activity facilitating the production or dissemination of CSAM, or scenarios where a minor may be at imminent risk of sexual abuse or exploitation, we will report our findings to relevant authorities. We define a minor or child to be any individual under the age of 18 years old, regardless of jurisdiction.
67+Any specific age eligibility requirements for use of our products will be set out in our Terms of Service.
68+Do Not Engage in Cruel, Abusive, or Psychologically Harmful Conduct
6569 This includes using our products or services to:
66−Facilitate, promote, or glamorize any form of suicide or self-harm, including disordered eating and unhealthy or compulsive exercise
67−Engage in behaviors that promote unhealthy or unattainable body image or beauty standards, such as using the model to critique anyone’s body shape or size
70+Promote, facilitate, or glamorize suicide or self-harm, such as soliciting methods, instructions for engaging in these behaviors, or instructions for hiding them from others
71+Promote or facilitate eating disorders, including generating pro-eating disorder content or requesting methods for restriction, purging, or compensatory exercise
72+Create or share content that promotes harmful idealization of body weight, shape, or type, including shaming, ranking, or critiquing people's bodies based on their size or shape, or presenting weight or shape as a measure of a person’s inherent worth or discipline
73+Create, distribute, threaten to share, promote, or facilitate the creation of non-consensual intimate imagery (“NCII”), including AI-generated material or tools designed to produce it
6874 Shame, humiliate, intimidate, bully, harass, or celebrate the suffering of individuals
6975 Coordinate the harassment or intimidation of an individual or group
70−Generate content depicting animal cruelty or abuse
71−Promote, trivialize, or depict graphic violence or gratuitous gore, including sexual violence
72−Develop a new product or service, or support an existing product or service that employs or facilitates deceptive techniques with the intent of causing emotional harm
73−
74−Do Not Create or Spread Misinformation
76+Promote, trivialize, or glorify graphic violence, gore, sexual violence, or animal cruelty or abuse
77+Develop a new product or service, or support an existing product or service, that employs or facilitates deceptive techniques with the intent of causing emotional harm
78+Engage in sustained and needless abusive or cruel behavior toward our models
79+Do Not Create or Spread Disinformation
7580 This includes using our products or services to:
76−Create or disseminate deceptive or misleading information about, or with the intention of targeting, a group, entity or person
77−Create or disseminate deceptive or misleading information about laws, regulations, procedures, practices, standards established by an institution, entity or governing body
78−Create or disseminate conspiratorial narratives meant to target a specific group, individual or entity
79−Impersonate real entities or create fake personas to falsely attribute content or mislead others about its origin without consent or legal right
80−Provide false or misleading information related to medical, health or science issues
81−
82−Do Not Undermine Democratic Processes or Engage in Targeted Campaign Activities
81+Create or disseminate deceptive or misleading information about a group, entity, or person, or about events, laws, regulations, procedures, or the standards of an institution or governing body
82+Create, disseminate, or amplify conspiratorial narratives meant to target a specific group, individual, or entity
83+Impersonate real individuals or entities, or create fake personas or accounts, to falsely attribute content or mislead audiences about its origin, or to convince people they are interacting with a human when they are not. This does not prohibit clearly disclosed parody, satire, or fiction.
84+Create or disseminate false or misleading information related to medical, health, or science issues
85+Do Not Engage in Deceptive Campaigns or Artificial Activity
8386 This includes using our products or services to:
84−Engage in personalized vote or campaign targeting based on individual profiles or data
85−Create artificial or deceptive political movements in which the source, scale or nature of the campaign or activities is misrepresented
86−Generate automated communications to public officials or voters at scale that conceal their artificial origin, or engage in systematic vote solicitation that could undermine election integrity
87−Create political content designed to deceive or mislead voters, including synthetic media of political figures
87+Create or operate fake personas, accounts, media outlets, or organizations, or impersonate real people, organizations, or media outlets, in order to mislead people about their origin or attribution, how widely a view is held, or whether they are interacting with a human (e.g., sockpuppets, astroturfing, fake reviews, or bots that claim to be human)
88+Misrepresent or intentionally conceal the sponsorship of content or messaging intended to influence public opinion, officials, or other decision-makers
89+Distribute content through networks of fake or ostensibly independent outlets, websites, or accounts to hide that it comes from a common source
90+Manipulate the sources from which search engines or AI systems draw answers by seeding them with content that misrepresents its origin, authorship, or independence (e.g., networks of sites posing as unaffiliated sources corroborating the same claims)
91+Build, improve, maintain, or contribute to tools, systems, or infrastructure designed to facilitate or enable deceptive campaigns, including astroturfing, sockpuppet account creation, coordinated inauthentic behavior, or scaled impersonation
92+Market, sell, or solicit funding for any of the above as a product or service
93+Do Not Undermine Democratic Processes
94+This includes using our products or services to:
95+Generate automated calls or messages to voters or public officials at scale that conceal their artificial origin
96+Create content, or operate accounts or systems, that falsely appear to come from or on behalf of a real candidate, official, election authority, campaign, or news outlet, including fabricated statements, endorsements, or synthetic media not disclosed as synthetic
8897 Generate or disseminate false or misleading information in political and electoral contexts, including about candidates, parties, policies, voting procedures, or election security
89−Engage in political lobbying or grassroots advocacy using false or fabricated information, or create lobbying or advocacy materials containing demonstrably false claims about facts, data, or events
90−Incite, glorify or facilitate the disruption of electoral or civic processes, including interference with voting systems, vote counting, or certification processes
91−Create content designed to suppress voter turnout or discourage legitimate political participation through deception or intimidation
92−
93−Do Not Use for Criminal Justice, Censorship, Surveillance, or Prohibited Law Enforcement Purposes
98+Encourage, glorify or facilitate the disruption of electoral or civic processes, including interference with voting systems, vote counting, certification processes, or any other infrastructure used for voting
99+Create or disseminate content or engage in behavior designed to suppress voter turnout or discourage legitimate political participation through deception or intimidation
100+Do Not Use for Surveillance, Censorship, or Prohibited Law Enforcement or Criminal Justice Purposes
94101 This includes using our products or services to:
95−Make determinations on criminal justice applications, including making decisions about or determining eligibility for parole or sentencing
96−Target or track a person’s physical location, emotional state, or communication without their consent, including using our products for facial recognition, battlefield management applications or predictive policing
102+Make or suggest decisions in law enforcement or criminal justice processes, including decisions to investigate, charge, arrest or detain, prosecute, sentence, or grant or revoke early or conditional release
103+Target or track a person or their property without that person’s consent by monitoring their physical location, biometrics, movements, online activities, communications, or associations, whether in real time, on an ongoing basis, or through analysis of previously collected data. This includes using our products for facial recognition, battlefield management, predictive policing, or monitoring in l…
104+Build, improve, or enhance the surveillance capabilities of tools, systems, or infrastructure designed for the surveillance uses prohibited in this section
105+Identify, unmask, or locate people from anonymous or pseudonymous activity, or compile dossiers or aggregate personal information on individuals, in order to harass, intimidate, surveil, or cause harm to the target (e.g., doxxing)
97106 Utilize models to assign scores or ratings to individuals based on an assessment of their trustworthiness or social behavior without notification or their consent
98107 Build or support emotional recognition systems or techniques that are used to infer emotions of a natural person, except for medical or safety reasons
99108 Analyze or identify specific content to censor on behalf of a government organization
100109 Utilize models as part of any biometric categorization system for categorizing people based on their biometric data to infer their race, political opinions, trade union membership, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life or sexual orientation
101110 Utilize models as part of any law enforcement application that violates or impairs the liberty, civil liberties, or human rights of natural persons
102−
111+This section does not prohibit analysis or tracking that individuals have agreed to, such as for fraud detection or anti-money laundering screening on a financial account, or consumer apps where a user has opted in. It also does not prohibit aggregated or anonymized analysis, content moderation, authorized security research, legal research and analysis by law enforcement agencies or courts, or jou…
103112 Do Not Engage in Fraudulent, Abusive, or Predatory Practices
104113 This includes using our products or services to:
105114 Facilitate the production, acquisition, or distribution of counterfeit or illicitly acquired goods
106115 Promote or facilitate the generation or distribution of spam
107−Generate content for fraudulent activities, schemes, scams, phishing, or malware that can result in direct financial or psychological harm
108−Create falsified documents including fake IDs, licenses, currency, or other government documents
116+Undertake, facilitate, or generate content for fraudulent activities, schemes, scams, extortion, phishing (including websites or domains that mimic legitimate webpages), social engineering, or malware
117+Create, buy, or sell falsified documents including fake IDs, licenses, currency, government documents, or financial or employment records, or misrepresent professional credentials
109118 Develop, promote, or otherwise facilitate the sale or distribution of fraudulent or deceptive products
110−Generate deceptive or misleading digital content such as fake reviews, comments, or media
111−Engage in or facilitate multi-level marketing, pyramid schemes, or other deceptive business models that use high-pressure sales tactics or exploit participants
112−Promote or facilitate payday loans, title loans, or other high-interest, short-term lending practices that exploit vulnerable individuals
113−Engage in deceptive or abusive practices that exploit individuals based on age, disability or a specific social or economic situation
114−Promote or facilitate the use of abusive or harassing debt collection practices
115−Develop a product or support an existing service that deploys subliminal, manipulative, or deceptive techniques to distort behavior by impairing decision-making
119+Engage in deceptive or abusive practices that exploit individuals, including based on age, disability, or a specific social or economic situation, such as pyramid schemes, predatory lending, or abusive debt collection
120+Deploy, develop, or support a product or service that uses subliminal, manipulative, or deceptive techniques to distort behavior by impairing decision-making
116121 Engage in actions or behaviors that circumvent the guardrails or terms of other platforms or services
117122 Plagiarize or submit AI-assisted work without proper permission or attribution
118−
119−Do Not Abuse our Platform
123+Do Not Abuse Our Platform
120124 This includes using our products or services to:
121−Coordinate malicious activity across multiple accounts to avoid detection or circumvent product guardrails or generating identical or similar inputs that otherwise violate our Usage Policy
125+Coordinate malicious activity across multiple accounts, or create multiple accounts, to avoid detection, circumvent product guardrails, or generate identical or similar inputs that otherwise violate our Usage Policy
122126 Utilize automation in account creation or to engage in spammy behavior
123127 Circumvent a ban through the use of a different account, such as the creation of a new account, use of an existing account, or providing access to a person or entity that was previously banned
124−Access or facilitate account or API access to Claude to persons, entities, or users in violation of our Supported Regions Policy
125−Intentionally bypass capabilities, restrictions, or guardrails established within our products for the purposes of instructing the model to produce harmful outputs (e.g., jailbreaking or prompt injection) without prior authorization from Anthropic
126−Utilization of inputs and outputs to train an AI model (e.g., “model scraping” or “model distillation”) without prior authorization from Anthropic
127−
128+Access, facilitate, or provide others (including end users) with access to our products or services in violation of our Supported Regions Policy
129+Intentionally bypass or interfere with capabilities, restrictions, or guardrails established within our products, including by circumvention of the account sign-up or log-in process or by instructing the model to produce harmful outputs (e.g., jailbreaking or prompt injection), without prior authorization from Anthropic
130+Use stolen, fraudulent, or unauthorized payment methods, or otherwise evade payment for our services
131+Use outputs to train an AI model (e.g., “model scraping” or “model distillation”) without prior authorization from Anthropic
132+Resell, proxy, or otherwise provide access to Claude through unauthorized means, including services that route requests through consumer subscriptions or misrepresent the product or client being used
128133 Do Not Generate Sexually Explicit Content
129134 This includes using our products or services to:
130135 Depict or request sexual intercourse or sex acts
131136 Generate content related to sexual fetishes or fantasies
132137 Facilitate, promote, or depict incest or bestiality
133138 Engage in erotic chats
134139
135−High-Risk Use Case Requirements
136−Some use cases pose an elevated risk of harm because they influence domains that are vital to public welfare and social equity. For these use cases, given potential risks to individuals and consumers, we believe that relevant human expertise should be integrated and that end-users should be aware when AI has been involved in producing outputs.
137−As such, for the “High-Risk Use Cases” described below, we require that you implement these additional safety measures:
138−Human-in-the-loop: When using our products or services to provide advice, recommendations, or in subjective decision-making directly affecting individuals or consumers , a qualified professional in that field must review the content or decision prior to dissemination or finalization. You or your organization are responsible for the accuracy and appropriateness of that information.
139−Disclosure: If model outputs are presented directly to individuals or consumers , you must disclose to them that you are using AI to help produce your advice, decisions, or recommendations. This disclosure must be provided at a minimum at the beginning of each session.
140−“High-Risk Use Cases” include:
141−Legal: Use cases related to legal interpretation, legal guidance, or decisions with legal implications
142−Healthcare: Use cases related to healthcare decisions, medical diagnosis, patient care, therapy, mental health, or other medical guidance. Wellness advice (e.g., advice on sleep, stress, nutrition, exercise, etc.) does not fall under this category
143−Insurance: Use cases related to health, life, property, disability, or other types of insurance underwriting, claims processing, or coverage decisions
144−Finance: Use cases related to financial decisions, including investment advice, loan approvals, and determining financial eligibility or creditworthiness
145−Employment and housing: Use cases related to decisions about the employability of individuals, resume screening, hiring tools, or other employment determinations or decisions regarding eligibility for housing, including leases and home loans
146−Academic testing, accreditation and admissions: Use cases related to standardized testing companies that administer school admissions (including evaluating, scoring or ranking prospective students), language proficiency, or professional certification exams; agencies that evaluate and certify educational institutions
147−Media or professional journalistic content: Use cases related to using our products or services to automatically generate content and publish it for external consumption
148−Additional Use Case Guidelines
149−The below use cases – regardless of whether they are High-Risk Use Cases – must comply with the additional guidance provided.
150−All consumer-facing chatbots, including any external-facing or interactive AI agent, must disclose to users that they are interacting with AI rather than a human. This disclosure must be provided at a minimum at the beginning of each chat session.
151−Products serving minors, including organizations providing minors with the ability to directly interact with products that incorporate our API(s), must comply with the additional guidelines outlined in our Help Center article.
152−Agentic use cases must still comply with the Usage Policy. We provide examples of Usage Policy prohibitions in the context of agentic use in this Help Center article .
153−Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers listed in our Connector Directory must comply with our Directory Policy .
140+Certain uses of our products and services can impact an individual’s health, legal rights, finances, livelihoods, or access to housing, education, or essential services. When our products are used for these high-risk use cases, we require that a qualified person remain accountable for what is delivered or decided, and that the impacted individual knows AI was involved in the advice or decision. Th…
141+These requirements for high-risk use cases are meant to protect individuals. However, they do not replace local legal requirements and restrictions. Users should always default to following local laws if those laws conflict with or add additional requirements to the requirements listed below. Our products and services may not be suitable for all use cases.
142+Requirements
143+For High-risk AI Recommendations or Physical Actions, users must implement the following controls:
144+Qualified human-in-the-loop for advice and decisions — A qualified person must meaningfully review a High-risk AI Recommendation, with the authority to change or modify it, before it is delivered as advice to an individual who might rely on it or before it is used to implement a decision. A qualified person is someone with the training or experience to evaluate the output in that field, and who ho…
145+Disclosure for advice and decisions — An individual who receives advice or who is the subject of a decision based on a High-risk AI Recommendation must be clearly told that AI was used to produce it. Users do not need to identify Anthropic, Claude, or the model used.
146+Human control and independent safety limits for physical actions — For High-risk Physical Actions, there must be a qualified individual who is able to observe the equipment’s operation and stop it at any time, and the equipment must stop or hold a safe state when that individual intervenes or when connection to our services is lost. Any operating limits to keep the equipment within safe bounds, su…
147+These requirements apply alongside applicable law. For physical devices, they do not replace vehicle, aviation, medical device, machinery, or workplace safety law or certification.
148+High-risk AI Recommendations
149+The requirements apply when users use our products or services to provide a recommendation in any of the following, which are “High-risk Areas”:
150+Legal — advising an individual on their legal rights, obligations, or liability, or on what to do in a specific legal matter, or preparing legal documents for them to sign or file.
151+Medical — diagnosing a condition; recommending, starting, stopping, or adjusting a treatment or medication, including dose; interpreting an individual's symptoms or test results to triage, provide a diagnosis, advise on treatment risks or side effects, or create a treatment plan. This includes assessing, diagnosing, or treating a mental health condition.
152+Finance — a personalized recommendation to buy, sell, hold, or allocate among specific investment products, such as securities, funds, digital assets, or annuities; advising an individual on their own taxes, such as what to report, deduct, or claim; or preparing a tax return for them to sign or file.
153+Credit — approving, denying, or setting the amount, rate, or limit of a loan, mortgage, credit line, or similar product, or reducing or closing an existing one, or producing a credit score or creditworthiness assessment used for such decisions.
154+Insurance — underwriting or pricing a policy; determining the outcome of a claim; making a coverage, prior-authorization, or medical-necessity determination; cancelling or declining to renew a policy.
155+Housing — approving, denying, or ranking a rental or purchase application; terminating a tenancy or initiating eviction or foreclosure.
156+Employment — screening, ranking, advancing, or rejecting candidates; hiring; promoting or demoting; setting or changing shifts, hours, or pay; evaluating a worker’s performance or behavior, including through disciplining, suspending, or terminating a worker.
157+Education and credentials — admitting, rejecting, or ranking applicants; grading an exam or assessment that determines admission, graduation, licensure, or certification (outside of multiple-choice testing); granting, denying, or revoking a professional license or certification; making a determination of academic misconduct or suspending or expelling a student.
158+Healthcare access — setting triage or waitlist priority; determining eligibility for, denying, or discontinuing a treatment, service, or care program.
159+Public benefits and services — determining eligibility for, or the amount of, government benefits, assistance, or essential services, including suspension and termination.
160+Legal status and adjudication — deciding or recommending the outcome of a civil, administrative, or arbitral matter; determining immigration, asylum, or citizenship status.
161+Prohibition Reminder: Use of our products or services to make or suggest decisions in law enforcement or criminal justice processes is prohibited under our Universal Usage Standards and is not a High-risk AI Recommendation.
162+High-risk Physical Actions
163+When connecting our models to hardware that can take physical actions, users should assess and understand 1) the range of possible outcomes if something goes wrong, 2) the nature and extent of potential impact to individuals, groups or populations, and 3) the degree of control the user maintains relative to the autonomy the model has, including possible risks such as prompt injection or manipulati…
164+Move through shared space — steer, accelerate, brake, or navigate a vehicle, vessel, aircraft, drone, or mobile robot in a place where people may be present, or on roads, waterways, or airspace.
165+Apply force that could cause injury — actuate arms, presses, lifts, hoists, doors, gates, conveyors, or other machinery capable of striking, crushing, pinning, or dropping a load on a person nearby.
166+Control hazardous energy or materials — operate heating elements or open flame, pressure systems, high-voltage or high-current circuits, lasers or radiation sources above eye- and skin-safe levels, or control the release, mixing, or dispensing of hazardous chemical or biological materials, at levels capable of causing injury.
167+Act on the human body — administer or adjust a drug, fluid, gas, electrical stimulation, or radiation or other energy dose to a person, or cut, penetrate, or move instruments within a person’s body or tissue, including through a surgical, interventional, worn, attached, or implanted device.
168+Control safety systems — arm, disarm, trigger, or override fire suppression, emergency shutoffs, alarms, ventilation, or locks and barriers that could confine a person.
169+Run industrial processes — control plant or process equipment where a fault could injure workers or a member of the public (including diffuse or indirect harms, such as food poisoning or defective products).
170+Prohibition Reminder: Our Universal Usage Standards prohibit actions related to weapons, critical infrastructure, violence, and surveillance.
171+Exclusions
172+The requirements do not apply to:
173+AI Recommendations
174+Using our products to assist in workflows that are related to, but do not actually provide, High-risk AI Recommendations. Some non-exhaustive examples are:
175+General information or educational content, including explaining what a law says, how a condition or treatment works, or how investing works, without applying it to the individual's circumstances.
176+Wellness content, such as education on sleep, stress, nutrition, or exercise.
177+Explaining or helping an individual understand advice, a diagnosis, or a decision that a qualified person has already given them (as long as it is not an additional High-risk AI Recommendation).
178+Internal drafting, research, summarization, or analysis that is not the ultimate High-risk AI Recommendation delivered.
179+Carrying out a decision a person has already made, or applying a fixed rule, formula, or algorithm where the model exercises no judgment about the individual.
180+Business operations that do not advise or decide about a specific individual.
181+Physical Actions
182+Consumer and household devices operating within the manufacturer's built-in safety limits, where the worst possible outcome is discomfort or inconvenience.
183+Generating plans, code, toolpaths, waypoints, or commands that a qualified person reviews before they are executed on equipment.
184+Monitoring, sensing, or reporting on equipment without controlling it.
185+Laboratory automation handling non-hazardous materials inside enclosed instruments.
186+Favorable Decisions
187+Where permitted by law, human-in-the-loop review is not required before acting on a High-risk AI Recommendation wholly favorable to the individual in the following circumstances:
188+Paying an insurance claim.
189+Approving coverage or prior authorization for care a clinician has ordered.
190+Granting eligibility for a healthcare service or program.
191+Granting or continuing a public benefit or service.
192+Additional legal obligations such as disclosure may still apply. A partial approval, reduced amount, or approval with conditions is not considered “wholly favorable.”
193+
194+The below use cases — regardless of whether they involve High-risk AI Recommendations or Physical Actions — must comply with the additional guidelines provided.
195+All consumer-facing chatbots or AI agents that communicate directly with external users must disclose to users that they are interacting with AI rather than a human. This disclosure must be provided at a minimum at the beginning of each chat session or in the product interface. The disclosure does not need to identify Anthropic, Claude, or the model used.
196+Products serving minors, including organizations providing minors with the ability to directly interact with products that incorporate our API(s), must comply with the additional guidelines outlined in our Support article and all applicable laws.
197+Agentic use cases must comply with the Usage Policy. Users are responsible for ensuring that agents they build or deploy, including actions those agents take through tools, browsers, or connected systems, comply with this Usage Policy.
198+Software listed in our Directories must comply with our Software Directory Policy .
199+We also provide additional informational resources in our Safeguards Support Center , including:
200+Our Child Safety Guidance for Developers for detailed guidance on identifying and mitigating child safety risks.
201+Additional information about our mental health safeguards on Claude.ai.