1. Our Services
1.1
StepFun provides artificial intelligence large-model API technology. Eligible users can access and integrate our large-model application solutions via API calls to implement relevant AI applications. The StepFun platform is primarily designed for enterprise clients and individual developers. The Services can be used in scenarios such as knowledge learning, information retrieval, content consumption, and human-computer interaction. Certain Services may also be available as trial services, and eligibility for such trials will be determined by StepFun based on the information provided in the Customer’s application.1.2
Subject to these Terms, we grant the Customer permission to use the Services, including to support the products and services that the Customer provides to its own customers and end users (“Users”). We act solely as a neutral technology service provider. The Customer is responsible for operating its own websites, applications, software, platforms, and any related products, services, or content, as well as for fulfilling all corresponding compliance obligations.1.3
When using products or services provided by third parties, including through links within the Services, please read and comply with the user agreements, terms of use, privacy policies, and other legal documents published by the third party. We are not responsible for third-party products or associated content.2. Account Registration and Eligibility
2.1 Minimum Age
You must be at least 18 years old. If you are 18 or older but still considered a minor under the applicable jurisdiction, you must obtain parental or guardian consent before using the Services.2.2 Account Registration
You may be required to register in order to access and use certain features of the Services. If you choose to register, you agree to provide and maintain true, accurate, current, and complete information. StepFun has sole discretion to allow use of the Services. Your registration data and certain other information about you are governed by our Privacy Policy. You may also close your account by contacting us.2.3 Account Security
Do not share your account login information with anyone else. Your account is limited solely to you. You are responsible for anything that occurs while anyone is signed in to your account, for maintaining account security, and for ensuring that all use complies with these Terms.3. Use of Our Services
3.1 Acceptable Use
Customer and its Users may use the Services only in compliance with these Terms, all applicable laws, and any additional documentation, guidelines, or policies we make available.3.2 Prohibited Use
Customer and its Users must not use the Services for illegal, harmful, or abusive activities, including the following.i. Harm to the Services
- crawling, scraping, or otherwise harvesting data or information from the Services except as permitted under these Terms
- engaging in technical attacks, AI poisoning, excess usage, prompt-based manipulation, jailbreaking, and other off-platform abuses
- bypassing our safety or privacy filters, controls, or mechanisms
- using prompts and completions to train an AI model without authorization
- attempting to or assisting anyone to reverse engineer, decompile, or discover the source code or underlying components of the Services, including models, algorithms, or systems, except where prohibited by applicable law
ii. Privacy Violations
- collecting, processing, disclosing, inferring, or generating personal information without complying with applicable legal requirements
- inputting photographs, video or audio recordings, or other content of others without their consent for biometric processing or any other purpose
- facilitating spyware, communications surveillance, or unauthorized monitoring of individuals
iii. Harm to Children
- creating, distributing, or promoting child sexual abuse material
- facilitating trafficking, sextortion, or other exploitation of a minor
- promoting or facilitating pedophilic relationships, including through roleplay with the model
iv. Discriminatory Practices
- engaging in or inciting discriminatory practices or behaviors against individuals or groups based on protected attributes such as race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, or other identifying traits
v. Illegal or Inappropriate Content
- sexually explicit content, including pornography and content intended to arouse sexual excitement
- content promoting suicide or self-harm, bullying, humiliation, or other emotional harms
- content depicting animal cruelty or abuse or other psychologically harmful material
- content relating to violent extremism, terrorism, or hateful behavior
vi. Deceptive or Misleading Information
- engaging in false online engagement such as fake reviews, comments, or media
- engaging in or promoting academic dishonesty
- impersonating another individual or organization without consent or legal right
- representing that output was human-generated when it was not
vii. High-Risk or Rights-Impacting Activities
- infringing, misappropriating, or violating intellectual property or other legal rights
- making high-stakes automated decisions that affect an individual’s safety, rights, or well-being
- providing tailored legal, medical, health, or financial advice without qualified professional review and disclosure of AI assistance
- creating political campaigns or interfering in elections
- facilitating real-money gambling or exploitative lending practices
- using the Services to produce, modify, design, market, or distribute weapons, explosives, dangerous materials, or other systems designed to cause harm
- using the Services to injure others or destroy property
- engaging in unauthorized activities that violate the security of any service or system
4. Prompts, Outputs, and Other Content
The Services allow you to provide materials for processing, which could include text, documents, images, or recordings (“Prompts”), and generate a response (“Output”) based on your Prompts, as well as any feedback you provide (“Feedback”). Prompts, Outputs, and Feedback are collectively “Content”.4.1 Customers’ Rights to Content
- Except as expressly provided in these Terms, Customers retain all right, title, and interest, including intellectual property rights, in and to Content. You represent and warrant that you have all rights, licenses, and permissions needed to provide Prompts to the Services.
- As between you and us, and to the extent permitted by applicable law, you own the Output. When you use the Services in accordance with these Terms, you grant us a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, fully paid-up, transferable, sublicensable, perpetual, irrevocable license to copy, display, upload, perform, distribute, transmit, make available, store, access, modify, exploit, commercialize, and otherwise use Output for any purpose, including facilitating other users’ ability to elicit Output and promoting the Services.
- We may access, review, screen, edit, modify, or delete Content at any time and for any reason, including to provide and develop the Services or if we believe the Content violates these Terms or applicable law.
- We may use Content to provide, maintain, develop, and improve the Services, comply with applicable laws, enforce these Terms, and ensure the security of the Services.
4.2 Personal Information
Our Privacy Policy governs your use and our processing of personal information related to the Services, including personal information submitted as Prompts, Feedback, or other Content. Our Privacy Policy does not apply to personal information that we process on behalf of a Customer in relation to the Customer’s own users or clients. In such cases, the Customer remains responsible for complying with all applicable data protection and privacy obligations. Processing of such data is governed by the Data Processing Agreement, which is incorporated into these Terms.4.3 Accuracy
Artificial intelligence and AI models are frontier technologies that are still improving in accuracy, reliability, and safety. When you use the Services, you acknowledge and agree:- Output may not always be accurate or reflect correct, current, or complete information.
- You should not rely on Output as a sole source of truth or as a substitute for professional advice.
- You must evaluate Output for accuracy and appropriateness for your use case, including using human review where appropriate, before using or sharing it.
- Output may not be unique, and other users may receive similar output.
- The Services may provide incomplete, incorrect, or offensive Output that does not represent our views.
- You, not StepFun, are responsible for your use of Content generated by the Services based on your Prompts.
5. Violation and Liabilities
5.1 Liabilities
We reserve the right to suspend or discontinue offering or supporting all or part of any Services at any time and for any reason, to some or all users. Subject to applicable law, we may limit, suspend, or terminate your use of any Services at any time without notice and for any reason. If you believe we suspended or terminated your account in error, you may file an appeal using the contact details in Section 10.5.2 Breach of These Terms
Breach of these Terms includes, but is not limited to:- breach of these Terms
- abusive conduct such as repeated attempts to produce prohibited content
- situations where we determine action is necessary to comply with the law
- use of the Services that could cause risk or harm to us, our users, or others
- suspected fraudulent or illegal activity
- account suspension or closure by us or by you
6. Intellectual Property
6.1 Ownership of the Services
The Services are owned, operated, and provided by us and our affiliates, licensors, distributors, and service providers. We and our providers retain all rights, title, and interest, including intellectual property rights, in and to the Services. Except for the access and use rights expressly granted in these Terms, no additional rights are granted to you.6.2 Open-Source Software
The Services may include open-source software. If there is any conflict between these Terms and any other StepFun or third-party terms applicable to a portion of the Services, such other terms control as to that portion and to the extent of the conflict.6.3 Copyright Complaints
If you believe that your content has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright or trademark infringement, or otherwise violates intellectual property rights, you are encouraged to contact the infringing party directly. You may also notify us at platform@stepfun.com with the subject lineDMCA Takedown Request and include:
- an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the rights owner
- identification of the work or rights allegedly infringed
- identification of the allegedly infringing material and its specific location on the Services
- your full legal name, address, telephone number, and email address
- a statement of good-faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized
- a statement under penalty of perjury that the notice is accurate and that you are authorized to act
7. Fees
7.1 Prepaid Account and Payment
Upon registration, you will be assigned a Platform User Balance Account (“Balance Account”). Funds deposited into the Balance Account constitute prepayment to the platform and may be used to purchase specific Services. The platform operates on a pay-before-use basis. You must make payment according to the recharge amount displayed on the payment page before consuming Services. If your prepaid balance is depleted, you must top up the Balance Account according to the then-current price standards shown on the platform.7.2 Pricing, Modifications, and Refunds
7.2.1 Pricing
The names, types, and prices of Services are as displayed on the platform at the time of purchase. In case of inconsistency, the prices and terms shown on the platform prevail.7.2.2 Price Adjustments
The platform may modify pricing standards, billing methods, or introduce new fees from time to time. Any such changes will be announced before taking effect. If you do not agree with the updated terms, you must stop using the affected Service and contact customer support.7.2.3 Refunds
Except where a specific Service provides otherwise, or where inability to use a Service is directly caused by the platform’s fault, all payments are non-refundable. You may review recharge balance, deductions, and payment history through your Balance Account.7.2.4 Invoices
Invoices may be issued for the actual amount recharged, excluding promotional or gifted amounts, upon request and subject to verification of billing information.7.3 Trial Credits and Promotional Amounts
7.3.1 Trial Credits
The platform may provide limited-time trial credits to new users for service testing and evaluation. Trial credits may be used to offset service fees within their validity period and are subject to the rules displayed on the platform at the time of issuance. Unless otherwise specified, validity period and usage conditions follow the platform’s then-current policies. Trial credits are non-cash, non-withdrawable, non-transferable, and not eligible for invoicing.7.3.2 Promotional Amounts
The platform may periodically launch promotional or recharge incentive campaigns, under which users may receive promotional benefits such as cashback, coupons, vouchers, or discounts. All promotional credits are subject to the applicable campaign terms. Unless expressly stated otherwise, promotional amounts are non-cash, non-withdrawable, non-transferable, and not eligible for invoicing. The platform reserves the right to interpret, adjust, suspend, or terminate promotional activities or rules at its sole discretion.7.4 Additional Payment Provisions
You represent and warrant that all funds used to top up the Balance Account originate from lawful sources. The platform reserves the right to cooperate with judicial or regulatory authorities and may lock, freeze, or restrict your Balance Account where required. You must provide accurate and complete billing information, including a valid payment method. If a payment fails or is reversed, you remain responsible for resulting fees, and the platform may suspend or restrict access to the Services. The platform is not liable for errors caused by third-party payment processors.8. Disclaimer of Warranties, Limitations on Liability, and Indemnity
8.1 Disclaimer of Warranties
Our Services are provided “as is”. Except to the extent prohibited by applicable law, we and our affiliates and licensors disclaim all warranties, express, implied, statutory, or otherwise, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, satisfactory quality, non-infringement, and quiet enjoyment. We do not warrant that the Services will be uninterrupted, accurate, error-free, secure, or free from loss or alteration. You accept and agree that any use of output from the Services is at your sole risk and that you will not rely on output as a sole source of truth or as a substitute for professional advice.8.2 Limitations on Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, StepFun and related parties will not be liable for direct, indirect, punitive, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or other damages arising out of or related to the Services, materials, or these Terms, whether based in contract, tort, strict liability, or other theory, even if advised of the possibility of damages. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the total aggregate liability of the StepFun parties for all damages, losses, and causes of action will not exceed the greater of:- the amount you paid to us for access to or use of the Services in the six months preceding the date the claim first arose
- USD 100
8.3 Indemnity
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the StepFun parties from and against all liabilities, claims, damages, expenses including reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs, and other losses arising out of or related to:- your breach or alleged breach of these Terms
- your access to or use of the Services or materials
- your Feedback
- any products or services you develop, offer, or make available using the Services
- your violation of applicable law or any third-party right
- any actual or alleged fraud, intentional misconduct, gross negligence, or criminal acts by you or your employees or agents
9. Dispute Resolution
This section affects your rights. You and StepFun agree to the following mandatory arbitration and class action waiver provisions.9.1 Mandatory Arbitration
The validity, interpretation, alteration, execution, and dispute settlement of these Terms are governed by the laws of Singapore. Any dispute arising from these Terms shall be submitted to the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) for arbitration in accordance with the SIAC rules in effect at the time arbitration is initiated. The arbitral award is final and binding.9.2 Class and Jury Trial Waivers
You and StepFun agree that disputes must be brought on an individual basis only and may not be brought as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class, consolidated, or representative proceeding. Class arbitrations, class actions, and representative actions are prohibited. Only individual relief is available. The parties agree to sever and litigate in court any request for public injunctive relief after completing arbitration for the underlying claim and all other claims. This does not prevent either party from participating in a class-wide settlement. You and StepFun knowingly and irrevocably waive any right to trial by jury in any action, proceeding, or counterclaim.9.3 Severability
If any part of these arbitration terms is found illegal or unenforceable, the remainder will remain in effect, except that if a finding of partial illegality or unenforceability would allow class arbitration or class action, this entire dispute resolution section will be unenforceable in its entirety.10. General Terms
10.1 Changes to These Terms
We continuously develop and improve the Services. We may add or remove features, change capacity limits, offer new Services, or stop offering certain Services. We may also change these Terms, especially due to:- changes to law or regulatory requirements
- security and operability issues
- adaptation to new technologies