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Terms of Service

Last updated: September 10, 2026

In plain language

  • You are a member, not a customer. You own and govern this cooperative.
  • We provide private AI chat through open models, protected by encryption.
  • You keep ownership of what you write and what the AI produces.
  • We don't train on your data, and we don't sell it.
  • AI can be wrong. Use your judgment.
  • If you misuse the service, we may remove you (per our Charter).
  • Our liability is limited to what you've paid in dues.

The full terms are below. If anything is unclear, write to info@inference.coop.


1. Who we are

The Inference Cooperative ("we", "us") is a member-governed cooperative providing private AI inference. We are fiscally sponsored by Metagov, a nonprofit that provides our financial and legal services.

When you join, you become a member — an owner with a voice in how the cooperative is run — not a customer of a vendor.

2. Membership

  • Membership is through Open Collective, where you pay dues on a sliding scale.
  • You must be 18 or older to join.
  • Membership is governed by our Charter, including our Code of Conduct.
  • We may suspend or remove membership for Code of Conduct violations or non-payment, as described in the Charter.

3. The service

We provide:

  • Private AI chat through open-source models, served through encrypted (TEE-protected) infrastructure.
  • Web search and file uploads within the chat interface.
  • Governance — a seat in decisions about models, pricing, and direction.

The service is provided "as is" and may change as the cooperative evolves. We do not guarantee uptime or specific performance at this stage.

4. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

  • Use the service for anything illegal.
  • Harass, abuse, or harm others.
  • Attempt to circumvent usage limits or the privacy architecture.
  • Share your account credentials or resell access.
  • Use the service to generate content that violates our Code of Conduct.

5. Usage limits

  • Membership includes a monthly credit budget (currently $15 of usage).
  • When your budget is exhausted, requests pause until the next cycle.
  • The pricing and budget model is itself a governance decision — members can change it through Loomio.

6. Your content

  • You own your prompts and the AI's outputs.
  • We do not train models on your data.
  • We do not sell or share your content.
  • See our Privacy Policy for how your data is handled.

7. Privacy

Your privacy is a core value, not an afterthought. Inference runs in encrypted enclaves so that even our own infrastructure cannot read your model inputs and outputs at the inference step. Details are in the Privacy Policy.

8. Termination

  • You may leave at any time by cancelling on Open Collective.
  • On leaving, your account is deactivated (data preserved for reactivation). You may request full deletion.
  • We may remove members per the Charter (Code of Conduct, non-payment).

9. Governance

  • Decisions are made through Loomio and governed by the Charter.
  • During the pilot phase, the General Manager holds final discretion; this transitions to full member governance as the cooperative grows.

10. Disclaimers and liability

  • AI outputs may be inaccurate or inappropriate. We provide no warranty of correctness. Use your judgment.
  • To the maximum extent permitted by law, our liability is limited to the amount of dues you have paid.
  • As a cooperative, members are not personally liable for the cooperative's obligations.

11. Changes to these terms

  • We may update these terms as the cooperative evolves.
  • Material changes are announced to members and, where appropriate, decided through Loomio.

12. Contact

info@inference.coop