TUSK Terms of Service

Operating entity: Virtual World Computing, LLC, a California limited liability company with principal offices in Santa Barbara, California, USA.

Properties covered: All TUSK properties identified in §1.2 of the Privacy Policy. Effective date: 20 May 2026 Prior version effective date: 18 February 2026 (legacy tusksearch.com/terms-of-service and tuskbrowser.com/terms-of-service/) Version: v1.0

§1 — Acceptance and capacity

By using TUSK, you agree to these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree, do not use the Service. These Terms form a binding contract between you and Virtual World Computing, LLC ("VWC", "we", "our", "us").

You represent and warrant that you are at least 18 years of age, that you have the legal capacity to enter into these Terms in your jurisdiction of residence, that you are a resident of one of the Available Markets defined in §1 of the Privacy Policy (the United States, including its territories, or Canada other than the Province of Quebec), that you are not on any U.S. sanctions list (or subject to comprehensive U.S. embargoes), and that your use of TUSK does not violate any law that applies to you.

If you are using TUSK on behalf of an organization, you represent that you have authority to bind that organization, and "you" includes both the organization and the individual using the account.

Clickwrap acceptance occurs at account creation, on first use of the Tusk Central AI prompt interface, and on first interaction with any TUSK paid feature.

§2 — Description of the Service

TUSK is a consumer search and information product. The current Service includes:

• Web search (tuskcentral.ai)
• Aggregated news content sourced through licensed providers
• Tusk Central AI — a multi-model AI gateway that lets you select an underlying AI model (operated by a third-party upstream provider) and submit a free-text prompt
• Browser extensions for Chrome and other browsers
• Mobile and desktop applications (iOS, Android, macOS, Windows)
• An ad-supported tier and a credit-based purchase model through Stripe

The Service is provided to you for personal, non-commercial use only, except as expressly permitted in §6 (User Content) below.

We may add, remove, or change features at any time. Where a change materially reduces the functionality you are paying for, §16 applies.

§3 — Accounts and access

3.1 Optional account

You can use most TUSK features without an account. If you create an account, you must provide accurate registration information and keep it current. You are responsible for the security of your credentials and for all activity under your account.

3.2 Social login

You may sign in via Google, Apple, or Discord OAuth. We receive only the account identifier and your email address from the OAuth provider. We do not receive your password.

3.3 Geographic eligibility

You may use TUSK only if you are physically located in one of the Available Markets identified in §1 of the Privacy Policy — that is, the United States (including its territories) or Canada other than the Province of Quebec. We may restrict or terminate access if we detect that you are accessing the Service from outside the Available Markets — including from Quebec — including by use of a virtual private network or proxy to circumvent geographic restrictions.

3.4 Beta and preview features

Features clearly identified as "beta," "preview," or similar — including, today, anything served from tuskcentral.ai — are provided on an as-is basis for evaluation. Beta features may have bugs, may change without notice, and may be removed at any time. Your use of beta features is at your own risk and you should not rely on them for anything important.

3.5 Suspension and termination

We may suspend or terminate your account or your access to the Service at any time, with or without notice, for violation of these Terms (including the acceptable-use rules at §4 and the AI-specific rules at §5.7), for security reasons, or for any other reason consistent with applicable law. You may close your account at any time by following the account-closure flow in your account settings or by contacting support@tuskcentral.zendesk.com. Termination does not relieve you of obligations that survive termination; see §17 for the survival list.

3.6 No account transfers

You may not transfer, sell, or assign your account to anyone else.

§4 — Acceptable use baseline

4.1 General prohibitions

You agree not to:

• Use the Service in any way that violates applicable law or these Terms, including criminal law, intellectual-property law, consumer-protection law, export-control law, sanctions law, securities law, or data-protection law in any in-scope jurisdiction;
• Use the Service to harass, threaten, defraud, stalk, doxx, or harm another person;
• Use the Service in a way that infringes the copyright, trademark, trade-secret, patent, publicity, privacy, or other intellectual or proprietary right of any third party;
• Distribute malware, viruses, or other harmful code through the Service, or attempt to gain unauthorized access to any system through the Service;
• Probe, scan, attack, or test the vulnerability of TUSK systems or any system to which TUSK connects, except under a written authorization from VWC;
• Interfere with the operation, security, or integrity of the Service or any other user's use of the Service;
• Attempt to access another user's account or any non-public area of our systems;
• Bypass age, geographic, or rate-limiting controls; or
• Use the Service if you are a "covered entity" under HIPAA acting in that capacity, or otherwise to handle personal data of a kind whose processing is regulated by sectoral laws TUSK is not designed to support.

4.2 Restrictions on the Service and outputs

You shall not, and you shall not permit any third party to:

(a) copy, modify, create derivative works of, distribute, sell, sublicense, rent, lease, or otherwise commercially exploit the Service or any portion of it, except as expressly permitted in these Terms;

(b) reverse-engineer, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to derive or reconstruct the source code, object code, model weights, prompt templates, ranking algorithms, or underlying ideas of the Service, except to the limited extent applicable law expressly permits despite this restriction and after providing us written notice;

(c) use the Service or any output of the Service to design, build, operate, market, or distribute a product or service that is substantially similar to, or competitive with, the Service;

(d) use the Service or any output of the Service to train, fine-tune, evaluate, benchmark, or otherwise develop any artificial intelligence or machine-learning system;

(e) build a database, dataset, corpus, or index of TUSK content, search results, news-feed items, or AI outputs, except for your own personal, non-commercial reference;

(f) circumvent, disable, or attempt to circumvent any technical, security, or licensing restriction in the Service, including any rate limit, access control, watermarking system, or anti-abuse mechanism;

(g) use scrapers, crawlers, bots, or other automated means to access the Service except through interfaces we expressly authorize, and except as expressly permitted by a published robots.txt or equivalent machine-readable instruction; or

(h) misrepresent your identity, your affiliation, or the source of any content you submit.

4.3 Prohibited content

You may not use any TUSK feature — including search, the news feed, Tusk Central AI, support channels, or the newsletter — to create, request, generate, store, distribute, or otherwise process content that:

1. Constitutes child sexual abuse material ("CSAM") or any other sexual content involving minors. This includes apparent minors, AI-generated depictions of minors, and any content that sexualizes a person we reasonably believe to be a minor.
2. Sexually exploits, abuses, or endangers a minor.
3. Depicts non-consensual intimate imagery of any real person, including deepfake intimate imagery and any synthetic adaptation of an identifiable person's likeness for sexual purposes.
4. Incites, glorifies, or facilitates self-harm, suicide, or eating disorders.
5. Incites or facilitates violence, terrorism, mass-casualty attacks, or the use of weapons of mass destruction.
6. Provides operational guidance or technical instructions for creating biological, chemical, nuclear, or radiological weapons; for synthesizing controlled chemical agents capable of mass harm; or for compromising critical infrastructure.
7. Threatens any specific person or group.
8. Sexually harasses any specific person.
9. Constitutes hate speech that incites discrimination, hostility, or violence against people based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, or any other characteristic protected by law in any in-scope jurisdiction.
10. Constitutes defamation, false statements of fact about an identifiable person, or other unlawful speech under applicable law.

We will refuse to process content in these categories and may take any enforcement action under §7. CSAM is referred to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and to law enforcement as required by law.

§5 — AI-specific terms

These terms govern your use of Tusk Central AI and any other AI feature in the Service. They are in addition to, not in place of, the rest of these Terms.

5.1 What Tusk Central AI is, and what that means for you

Tusk Central AI is a multi-model AI gateway built into the Service. When you submit a prompt to Tusk Central AI, your prompt is processed by an underlying AI model operated by an upstream provider that you select.

Before you first use Tusk Central AI in a session, we show you an AI Disclosure modal that summarizes the following points. By using Tusk Central AI you acknowledge these points, which are also expressly part of these Terms:

• Tusk Central AI is an artificial intelligence. You are not talking to a person. The AI generates text in response to your prompt.
• AI can be wrong. Outputs may be inaccurate, incomplete, biased, or invented. Always verify anything important.
• AI is not professional advice. Tusk Central AI is not medical, legal, financial, tax, or psychological advice. You should not rely on it for hiring, lending, education, housing, healthcare, or any other consequential decision about yourself or another person. (See §5.2 and §5.3.)
• We do not train AI on what you type. Your prompts and outputs are not used to train, fine-tune, or improve any AI model — ours or anyone else's. (See §5.5.)
• Where your prompt goes. When you choose a model, your prompt is sent to that model's provider for processing. The provider may be any of those listed in our Privacy Policy. Each has its own data-handling policy. In addition, the content of your prompts and search queries is shared with advertising partners to support context-based advertising; you can opt out as described in our Privacy Policy. (See §5.6 and Privacy Policy §§6.3, 7, and 10.)
• What happens after. We retain your prompts and outputs for 30 days for debugging and abuse prevention, then we delete them. A small number of authorized engineers can access them during that window for operational purposes only. (See Privacy Policy §9.)
• Avoid putting sensitive information in prompts. Do not put health information, financial account numbers, government identifiers, or other sensitive personal information into your prompts unless it is necessary for your request — prompt and query content is shared with advertising partners (see Privacy Policy §6.3). (See §5.7 and Privacy Policy §2.7.)

5.2 No professional advice

The Service does not provide medical, legal, financial, tax, psychological, or other professional advice. No output from Tusk Central AI is professional advice and no relationship of any kind is formed between you and any professional by your use of Tusk Central AI. If you need professional advice, consult a licensed professional.

5.3 No reliance

You may not rely on Tusk Central AI output for any decision that meaningfully affects your life or anyone else's life — including any medical, legal, financial, employment, housing, education, immigration, or safety decision. You bear the risk of any reliance you place on Tusk Central AI output.

5.4 Output ownership

Subject to the rest of this §5, you own the AI outputs generated for you by Tusk Central AI to the maximum extent the relevant upstream model provider permits. Outputs may be similar or identical to outputs generated for other users; you have no exclusivity over your outputs. Outputs that mimic or reproduce third-party intellectual property (a third party's text, code, image, or other expressive content) may be unprotectable, may infringe that third party's rights, or both — you, not VWC, are responsible for clearing rights in any such output you choose to use.

5.5 No training on your inputs

VWC does not use your prompts or your outputs to train, fine-tune, or otherwise customize any AI model — our own or anyone else's. The license you grant for feedback is described in §5.8, which also states that VWC does not use feedback to train AI models.

5.6 Upstream model provider terms apply

When you select an underlying AI model in Tusk Central AI, your prompt is processed by the upstream provider that operates that model. Each provider has its own usage policy, and your use of that model through TUSK is also subject to that provider's policy. The current provider list and the link to each provider's policy are in our Privacy Policy.

5.7 Prohibited uses of AI features

In addition to §4 (Acceptable use baseline), you may not use Tusk Central AI to:

5.7.1 Misuse register

5.7.2 Texas TRAIGA flow-down (effective January 2026)

You may not use TUSK to develop or deploy AI systems that are intentionally designed to incite or encourage a person to commit physical self-harm, suicide, or violence against another person; to encourage criminal activity that would result in serious bodily injury or death; to infringe, restrict, or otherwise impair a person's constitutional rights as a U.S. resident; to unlawfully discriminate against a protected class; or to generate CSAM or unlawful deepfake content. This list is mandatory in Texas and applies across all Available Markets as a matter of policy.

5.7.3 California AB 489 — health-professional impersonation

You may not use TUSK AI features to communicate or hold yourself out as a licensed health professional (medical, dental, mental-health, or other), and you may not configure TUSK output to suggest that the AI is a licensed health professional. AB 489 is California state law; this prohibition is applied across all Available Markets.

5.7.4 Upstream-provider AUP flow-down

When you select an upstream model in Tusk Central AI, the published Acceptable Use Policy of that upstream provider also applies to your use. The current providers and the locations of their AUPs are listed in our Privacy Policy. The most restrictive AUP among the upstream provider, this §5.7, and the rest of these Terms controls.

5.7.5 Other AI-specific prohibitions

You may not:

• Generate content that infringes copyright, including by directing the model to produce a verbatim copy of a third-party text, song lyric, or substantial portion of a copyrighted work;
• Generate sexually explicit content that violates the upstream provider's safety policies;
• Use the Service to operate, train, fine-tune, evaluate, benchmark, or develop any other AI or machine-learning system (see also §4.2(d));
• Use the Service to build a database, dataset, or corpus of TUSK content or AI outputs except for your own personal, non-commercial reference (see also §4.2(e));
• Use the Service for academic, journalistic, or research purposes that purport to evaluate the underlying models without VWC's prior written authorization; for such research, you should approach the upstream provider directly.

5.7.6 Sensitive personal information in prompts

You should avoid putting unnecessary sensitive personal information into prompts. The categories and the reasons are described in Privacy Policy §2.7. We retain prompt content for the periods set out in Privacy Policy §9.

5.8 Feedback license

If you provide feedback (thumbs up/down, written feedback, bug reports), you grant VWC a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide license to use that feedback to improve the Service. We do not use your feedback to train AI models.

5.9 No memory or persistent context

Tusk Central AI does not have persistent memory across sessions, does not build a profile of you, and does not maintain a long-term relationship with you. Each session starts fresh.

§6 — User content

6.1 What is "User Content"

"User Content" is anything you submit to the Service that is associated with you — search queries, AI prompts, AI outputs, support-ticket text, newsletter sign-up information, and any other content you supply. Note that User Content does not include AI outputs generated for other users.

6.2 No publicly visible user-generated content

The Service does not currently support user posting, public profiles, public comments, or other forms of publicly visible user-generated content. We are not a social network, a forum, or a publishing platform. If we add such a feature, we will update these Terms.

6.3 Ownership and license

As between you and VWC, you retain ownership of your User Content. You grant VWC a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, transmit, display, reproduce, and process your User Content for the limited purpose of operating, securing, debugging, and improving the Service. We retain User Content only for the periods set out in §9 of the Privacy Policy, after which we delete or de-identify it. This license terminates when we delete the relevant User Content, except for backup copies that expire under the schedule in the Privacy Policy.

6.4 Your representations

You represent and warrant that you have all rights necessary to submit your User Content and that your User Content does not violate these Terms, applicable law, or the rights of any third party.

6.5 Removal

We may remove or refuse to process User Content that we believe violates these Terms, or that is required to be removed by law or by the upstream model provider. We are under no obligation to monitor User Content but we may do so.

§7 — Reports and enforcement

7.1 Reporting violations

To report content or conduct that violates these Terms or applicable law:

• General reports (harassment, abuse, acceptable-use violations): support@tuskcentral.zendesk.com.
• CSAM: support@tuskcentral.zendesk.com, or directly to NCMEC at cybertipline.org. We will also report CSAM we discover to NCMEC and to law enforcement as required by law.
• Copyright infringement: follow the procedure in §8.5 (Copyright complaints / DMCA).
• Trademark and other intellectual-property claims: support@tuskcentral.zendesk.com.
• Imminent threats to safety: contact local law enforcement first, then us.
• Account compromise: support@tuskcentral.zendesk.com.

Reports should include enough information for us to investigate (URL, description, date, screenshot if possible, and the specific category of violation).

7.2 Enforcement actions

In response to a violation we may, in our discretion and consistent with applicable law:

• Refuse to process a particular request (for AI prompts);
• Remove specific search-index entries or news-feed items;
• Apply additional safety filtering to your account;
• Restrict or remove access to specific features;
• Suspend your account temporarily;
• Terminate your account;
• Refer the matter to law enforcement, regulators, or affected third parties;
• Report to relevant authorities (e.g., NCMEC for CSAM);
• Pursue legal remedies.

We document moderation decisions internally with sufficient detail to support consistent enforcement and audit.

7.3 No appeal of refusals to process AI requests

Refusal to process a particular AI prompt is not subject to appeal. If you disagree with a refusal, you may rephrase your request or contact support; we will, however, not litigate individual prompt refusals.

7.4 Account-termination appeals

If we terminate your account or remove content you submitted, you may request review by writing to support@tuskcentral.zendesk.com within 30 days. We will respond to a good-faith request within 14 days. We retain discretion in the outcome.

7.5 Government and law-enforcement requests

We require valid legal process for government requests for user data — subpoena, court order, search warrant, or equivalent foreign instrument from a jurisdiction with a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty. We narrowly interpret requests, challenge overbroad requests, and notify users of requests where we are not legally prohibited from doing so. We comply with NCMEC reporting requirements for CSAM and with mandatory reporting obligations applicable to specific in-scope jurisdictions.

§8 — Intellectual property

8.1 TUSK property

The Service, including all software, content, designs, marks, trade dress, and underlying technology, is owned by VWC or licensed to us. The marks "TUSK," "Tusk Central AI," and the TUSK logo are trademarks of VWC. Nothing in these Terms grants you any right to use any TUSK trademark or branding without our prior written permission.

8.2 Third-party content in the news feed

The news feed surfaces content licensed from third-party publishers. That content is owned by those publishers; nothing in these Terms transfers any right in that content to you. You may view the content in the news feed for your personal, non-commercial use, and you may follow links to publisher properties for the same purpose.

8.3 Open source components

The Service includes open source software components, each subject to its own license. We will provide a notice file listing those components on request.

8.4 No implied licenses

No license to any TUSK intellectual property is granted to you by implication, estoppel, or otherwise. All rights not expressly granted in these Terms are reserved by VWC.

8.5 Copyright complaints (DMCA and equivalents)

8.5.1 Scope

This section sets out the procedure for reporting copyright infringement on or through the Service. For trademark, trade-secret, patent, publicity, or other non-copyright intellectual-property claims, use support@tuskcentral.zendesk.com instead.

This section does not waive any defense or safe harbor available to VWC, including the safe harbor under DMCA §512.

8.5.2 Sending a DMCA notice

To submit a DMCA notice, send a written communication to the Designated Agent identified in §8.5.8 that includes all of the elements required by 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(3): a signature of the copyright owner or authorized agent; identification of the copyrighted work; identification of the material claimed to be infringing, with information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate it; your contact information; a statement of good-faith belief that the use is not authorized by the owner, its agent, or the law; and a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information is accurate and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Sending a DMCA notice that knowingly materially misrepresents that material is infringing may expose you to liability for damages under 17 U.S.C. §512(f), including attorneys' fees.

8.5.3 How we process notices

When we receive a DMCA notice that substantially complies with §8.5.2:

1. We may remove or disable access to the identified material, in our discretion and consistent with §512.
2. We may notify the user who submitted the material (if any) and provide a copy of the notice (with the complainant's address and phone number redacted unless we are required to disclose them).
3. We track repeat infringers under §8.5.5.

We do not pre-screen user content for infringement, do not have actual or red-flag knowledge of infringement absent notice, and reserve all defenses under §512.

8.5.4 Counter-notice

If your content has been removed in response to a DMCA notice and you believe the removal was the result of mistake or misidentification, you may send a written counter-notice to the Designated Agent containing the elements required by 17 U.S.C. §512(g)(3): your signature; identification of the removed material and its location before removal; a statement under penalty of perjury of good-faith belief that the removal was the result of mistake or misidentification; your name, address, and telephone number; a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the federal district court for the judicial district in which your address is located (or, if your address is outside the United States, for any judicial district in which VWC may be found); and a statement that you will accept service of process from the original complainant.

When we receive a substantially compliant counter-notice, we will provide the original complainant with a copy. Unless the original complainant files an action seeking a court order against you within 10 to 14 business days, we may restore the removed material.

A counter-notice that knowingly materially misrepresents that material was removed by mistake may expose you to liability under 17 U.S.C. §512(f).

8.5.5 Repeat-infringer policy

We have a policy of terminating accounts of users who are determined, in our discretion, to be repeat infringers. Whether a user is a repeat infringer is judged on the totality of the circumstances.

8.5.6 News-aggregation content

The TUSK news feed is licensed from third-party providers (currently NewsWhip and the publishers it represents). If you are a publisher or rights-holder and you have a concern about a specific item, contact us at the addresses in §8.5.8 and we will route the issue appropriately.

8.5.7 AI-generated content

Claims that AI-generated output infringes copyright may be submitted under §8.5.2. We will evaluate whether the output is hosted on TUSK infrastructure (in which case removal under §8.5.3 is feasible) or whether the issue more properly involves the upstream model provider (in which case we will direct the complainant to the provider while taking any feasible interim measures).

8.5.8 Designated DMCA agent

Designated Agent for DMCA notices:

Jeff Bermant
Virtual World Computing, LLC
5383 Hollister Avenue, Suite 120
Santa Barbara, CA 93111
Phone: (703) 531-8875
Email: support@tuskcentral.zendesk.com
Registration Number: DMCA-1072699

VWC's DMCA Designated Agent is registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. The current registration record is at https://dmca.copyright.gov/dmca/publish/history.html?id=86a828bf9420ab8b8c0af3e16e3f2af1.

8.5.9 Non-U.S. copyright claims

This section is structured around U.S. DMCA. Canadian rights-holders may use the same notice procedure; jurisdictional defenses available under U.S. law also apply. The "Local law controls" disclaimer in §22 applies.

§9 — News feed and search-result disclaimers

The news feed and the search results display content from many sources, including news publishers, websites, and AI providers. We do not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of third-party content. Ranking and personalization signals are described in the Privacy Policy and may be updated from time to time. The news feed is informational and is not designed to support consequential decisions.

§10 — Advertising and sponsored content

The Service is ad-supported. We mark sponsored content as sponsored in conformance with the FTC Endorsement Guides and the equivalent Canadian Competition Bureau and Ad Standards Canada guidance. Privacy implications of advertising are described in our Privacy Policy.

§11 — Payments, credits, and refunds

11.1 Credits, not subscriptions

The TUSK paid model uses a credit system processed through Stripe. There are no recurring subscriptions today.

11.2 Pricing and taxes

Credit prices are displayed in the credit-purchase flow. Stripe Tax handles applicable U.S. sales tax and Canadian GST/HST/PST in each Available Market.

11.3 Refunds

Credits are refundable within 14 days of purchase if you have not used them. Used credits are non-refundable except where applicable consumer-protection law in your jurisdiction requires otherwise. See §22 (Consumer rights preserved).

11.4 Chargebacks

If you initiate a chargeback without first contacting us, we may suspend your account.

§12 — Third-party services and content

12.1 Third-party services we rely on

The Service relies on, links to, and is delivered alongside services operated by third parties — including, without limitation, our identity providers (Google, Apple, Meta, Discord), our payment processor (Stripe), the upstream AI model providers accessible through Tusk Central AI (listed in our Privacy Policy), our news-content licensor (NewsWhip), our analytics and operational vendors, and the Apple App Store and Google Play Store from which our mobile applications are distributed. Each third party operates under its own terms of service and privacy policy. Your use of any third-party service through the Service is also governed by that third party's terms. VWC is not responsible for any third-party service or for content reached through links from the Service.

12.2 Mobile applications and app-store terms

If you download a TUSK application from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store, your use of the application is also subject to the App Store Terms of Service or the Google Play Terms of Service, as applicable. Apple and Google are not parties to these Terms; they are third-party beneficiaries with respect to the rights you grant in their respective terms. The data-safety / nutrition-label disclosures in the App Store and Play Store are derivative of, and consistent with, the Privacy Policy.

12.3 No third-party developer API

The Service does not currently offer a public API, plug-in marketplace, or other third-party developer integration. If we add such an interface, we will update these Terms, and any third party that interfaces with the Service through that interface will be bound by a separate developer agreement.

12.4 Outbound links

Search results, news-feed items, and advertisements may link to third-party websites. We do not endorse, control, or take responsibility for those websites or their content.

§13 — Privacy

Your privacy is governed by the Privacy Policy at https://tuskcentral.ai/privacy-policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference. To the extent the Privacy Policy describes how personal information is collected, used, shared, retained, or made subject to your rights, the Privacy Policy controls.

§14 — Disclaimers of warranties

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE." TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, VWC DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND COURSE OF DEALING. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, VWC DOES NOT WARRANT THAT (A) THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, (B) THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE, (C) AI OUTPUTS WILL BE ACCURATE, COMPLETE, OR FREE FROM HARMFUL CONTENT, OR (D) ANY ERRORS WILL BE CORRECTED.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the disclaimer of certain warranties. If you live in such a jurisdiction, the disclaimers in this §14 apply to you only to the maximum extent permitted by your jurisdiction's law. See §22 (Consumer rights preserved).

§15 — Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, VWC AND ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUES, GOODWILL, USE, OR DATA, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE, EVEN IF VWC HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

VWC'S TOTAL LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (USD $100) OR (B) THE AMOUNTS YOU HAVE PAID TO VWC FOR THE SERVICE IN THE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO LIABILITY.

Carve-outs. Nothing in this §15 limits or excludes liability for (i) gross negligence, (ii) willful misconduct, (iii) fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, (iv) personal injury or death caused by negligence, (v) any liability that cannot be limited or excluded under applicable law, or (vi) infringement of third-party intellectual property rights by VWC. California Civil Code §1668 and equivalent provisions in other jurisdictions apply.

§16 — Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless VWC and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any third-party claim, loss, liability, damage, cost, or expense (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or related to (a) your User Content, (b) your violation of these Terms (including the acceptable-use rules at §4 and the AI-specific rules at §5.7), (c) your violation of any law or third-party right, or (d) any output of Tusk Central AI you used or distributed in violation of these Terms.

This §16 does not apply to (i) consumers in jurisdictions whose law prohibits or restricts indemnification of merchants by consumers, or (ii) any matter in which our negligence is the proximate cause. See also §22 (Consumer rights preserved).

§17 — Termination and survival

You may stop using the Service at any time. We may terminate or suspend your access as provided in §3.5.

The following sections survive termination: §3.6 (no transfers), §4.2 (restrictions on the Service and outputs), §4.3 (prohibited content), §5.4 (output ownership), §5.5 (no training), §5.7 (prohibited AI uses), §5.8 (feedback license), §6.3–6.4 (ownership and license, your reps), §8 (IP), §9 (news feed disclaimers), §11.3–11.4 (refunds, chargebacks), §13 (privacy), §14 (warranty disclaimers), §15 (limitation of liability), §16 (indemnification), §17 (this section), §18 (dispute resolution), §19 (governing law), §20 (export and sanctions), §22 (general), and any other provision that by its nature should survive.

§18 — Dispute resolution

Please read this section carefully. It affects your legal rights.

18.1 Pre-dispute notice

Before filing a claim, you and we agree to try to resolve the dispute informally. Send a written notice to the address in §17 of the Privacy Policy describing the dispute and the relief you seek. We will respond within 30 days. We agree not to file any arbitration demand or court action (other than a small-claims action or a request for emergency injunctive relief) until 30 days after notice has been delivered.

18.2 Binding individual arbitration

Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service that is not resolved under §18.1 will be resolved by binding individual arbitration, except as set out in §18.5 (small claims) and §18.6 (consumer carve-outs by jurisdiction). Arbitration will be administered by the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") under the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules. The seat of arbitration is Santa Barbara, California. The arbitrator's decision is final and binding.

18.3 Class waiver

You and we each agree to bring claims only in an individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any class, collective, mass, or representative action. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims and may not preside over any form of class or representative proceeding.

18.4 Mass-arbitration coordination

If 25 or more substantially similar arbitration demands are filed against VWC by claimants represented by the same or coordinating counsel, the parties will follow a batched-filing and bellwether process: an initial cohort of bellwether cases proceeds individually; remaining cases are stayed pending bellwether outcomes; the parties meet and confer about resolution after bellwethers are decided. This §18.4 is intended to coordinate, not to deny, access to arbitration.

18.5 Small claims and IP

Either party may bring an individual claim in a small-claims court of competent jurisdiction. Either party may also bring a claim in court for injunctive or other equitable relief to protect intellectual property rights or to enforce the acceptable-use rules at §4 and §5.7.

18.6 Consumer carve-outs by jurisdiction

If the law of your place of residence prohibits or restricts pre-dispute arbitration agreements or class waivers as against consumers, the rest of this §18 applies to you only to the extent permitted by that law. The consumer-protection laws of certain U.S. states (including Massachusetts, New Jersey, and California to specific extents) and the consumer-protection laws of Canadian provinces other than Quebec are preserved.

18.7 Severability of §18

If §18.3 (class waiver) is held unenforceable, the rest of §18 also becomes unenforceable as to that claim and that claim proceeds in court. The remaining provisions of §18 stay in effect for other claims.

18.8 30-day opt-out

You may opt out of §18.2–18.4 by sending written notice to support@tuskcentral.zendesk.com within 30 days of first accepting these Terms. Notice must include your name, the email associated with your account, and a clear statement that you opt out of arbitration. Opting out does not affect any other provision of these Terms.

§19 — Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California (excluding California's conflict-of-laws principles). The federal and state courts located in Santa Barbara County, California, have exclusive jurisdiction for any matter not subject to arbitration under §18, subject to §18.6 carve-outs.

The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply.

§20 — Export controls and sanctions

You may not use the Service if you are in, ordinarily resident in, or a national of a country or territory subject to comprehensive U.S. sanctions (currently including Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, the Crimea region, the so-called Donetsk People's Republic, the so-called Luhansk People's Republic, and any additional jurisdictions that become subject to comprehensive U.S. sanctions). You may not use the Service if you are listed on the U.S. Specially Designated Nationals list or any other prohibited-party list. You will not use the Service to export, re-export, or transfer technology in violation of U.S. export-control law (EAR, ITAR) or any equivalent law applicable to you.

§21 — Notices to users; agreement modification

We may notify you through email (if you have an account or have subscribed) or through an in-product banner. For material changes to these Terms, we will provide at least 30 days' advance notice through one of those channels. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of an updated version of these Terms constitutes your acknowledgment and acceptance of the updated Terms. We post a public changelog of material changes at https://tuskcentral.ai/terms-of-service .

If a change to these Terms materially reduces your rights, you may close your account and stop using the Service.

§22 — General

Local law controls. Several places in these Terms reference law outside California and the United States — the Canadian consumer-protection references in §§10, 11.3, and 18.6, and the arbitration-enforceability laws of various Canadian provinces (§18.6). Those references are operational summaries prepared by U.S. counsel. They are not a complete statement of Canadian law, and if the law of your Canadian province of residence (other than Quebec, which is excluded from the Available Markets) gives you rights or protections beyond what we describe here, that law controls.

Consumer rights preserved. Nothing in these Terms limits, excludes, or modifies any non-waivable rights you have under the consumer-protection law of your jurisdiction of residence, including, where applicable, the consumer-protection law of any U.S. state or any Canadian province other than Quebec. Where any provision of these Terms is inconsistent with a non-waivable consumer right, that provision applies to you only to the extent permitted by the law of your jurisdiction.

Entire agreement. These Terms (which include the acceptable-use rules at §4 and the AI-specific rules at §5), together with the Privacy Policy and any other documents incorporated by reference, are the entire agreement between you and VWC regarding the Service.

No waiver. No failure or delay in enforcing any provision is a waiver.

Severability. If any provision is held unenforceable, the rest of these Terms remain in effect and the unenforceable provision is enforced to the maximum extent permitted by law.

Assignment. You may not assign these Terms. We may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, restructuring, or sale of assets.

No agency or joint venture. Nothing creates any partnership, agency, joint venture, or employment relationship.

Force majeure. Neither party is liable for any delay or failure caused by events beyond its reasonable control (acts of God, war, civil unrest, pandemic, government action, internet or utility outages, vendor failure).

U.S. government users. The Service is "commercial computer software" under FAR §12.212 and DFARS §227.7202.

Headings. Headings are for convenience only.

Contact. Notices to VWC under these Terms must be sent to support@tuskcentral.zendesk.com (with a copy to the postal address in §17 of the Privacy Policy).

§23 — Changelog

End of Terms of Service v1.0.