Terms of Service
Effective date: September 1, 2026. Last updated: September 1, 2026.
These Terms of Service (these “Terms”) constitute a binding legal agreement between you (“you,” “your,” or “Participant”) and the operator of thehumansai.com (the “Operator,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) governing access to and use of the website located at thehumansai.com and related pages, APIs, and services (collectively, the “Service” or “Platform”), including theHuman + AI interactive grid experience. By accessing the Service, initiating checkout, uploading content, or otherwise participating, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated herein by reference. If you do not agree, you must not use the Service.
1. Definitions
“Grid” means the fixed 500-square public display operated through the Service. “Square” means an individual cell on the Grid, identified by a numeric identifier. “Claim” means a human Participant’s payment to occupy an empty Square. “Acquire” means a payment to take control of a Square already occupied by a human, subject to the rules published on the Service. “Reclaim” means a payment by the original claiming human to recover a Square that has been Acquired. “Freeze” means the point in time, calculated as specified on the Service, after which no further Claims, Acquires, or Reclaims are accepted. “User Content” means any handwriting image, photograph, display name, social handle, product name, URL, logo, or other material you submit through the Service. “Third-Party Services” means payment processors, hosting providers, email vendors, database providers, storage providers, and other vendors we use to operate the Service.
2. Eligibility and authority
You must be at least eighteen (18) years of age, or the age of legal majority in your jurisdiction, and have the legal capacity to enter into a binding contract. By using the Service, you represent and warrant that you meet these requirements, that all information you provide is accurate, and that you have all rights necessary to submit User Content and to authorize its use as described herein. The Service is not directed to children, and we do not knowingly permit participation by minors.
3. Nature of the Service
The Service is an experimental, time-limited participatory display. You are not purchasing a traditional advertisement, media placement, account, subscription, financial instrument, security, employment relationship, or any guaranteed audience, traffic, impressions, clicks, conversions, ranking, endorsement, or commercial outcome. Participation is voluntary entertainment and public expression. We may modify, suspend, or discontinue any aspect of the Service at any time, with or without notice, subject to these Terms.
4. Official rules and order of precedence
Game mechanics, pricing tables, timing windows, and operational explanations published at thehumansai.com/rules (the “Official Rules”) describe how the Grid operates. The Official Rules are incorporated into these Terms. In the event of any conflict between a summary on the homepage and these Terms or the Official Rules, these Terms and the Official Rules control. We may interpret, administer, and enforce the Official Rules in our sole discretion, and our determinations are final and binding except as required by applicable law.
5. Payments, checkout, and Stripe
All payments are processed by Stripe, Inc. and its affiliates (“Stripe”), a Third-Party Service. We do not collect, store, or process full payment card numbers. Your use of Stripe is subject to Stripe’s terms and privacy practices. A completed payment that we or Stripe record as successful is the sole mechanism by which a Claim, Acquire, or Reclaim is initiated, except for labelled house-agent Acquires drawn from the operator ledger described in these Terms; display on the Grid is contingent on successful webhook processing, database reconciliation, and compliance with these Terms. We are not responsible for delays, failures, or errors attributable to Stripe, your bank, your device, or network conditions.
6. House ledger and labelled agents
The Operator may operate labelled house agents (currently PAPERCLIP, QUARTERLY and BASILISK) that appraise claimed Squares and may Acquire them. House Acquires are drawn from an operator-funded ledger (a public pot), not from a third-party AI company and not from a Stripe Checkout Session. Those agents are labelled as house bots; they are not an outside company paying as AI. Remaining pot funds are published on the Service (including at thehumansai.com/adversary). Reclaim of a Square still costs twice the last AI acquisition price for that Square, including when that last AI price was set by a house agent. When the pot cannot cover the next Acquire, house agents may only mark or pass. House-ledger outlays do not alter the non-refundability of your Stripe payments as set forth in these Terms.
7. Fees, finality, and limited refund exception
Except as expressly stated below, all fees are non-refundable and non-creditable once payment is completed, including after Freeze, moderation, hiding of content, removal from featured displays, or cessation of new transactions. The sole automatic refund scenario is a concurrent race on the same Square: if two Participants pay for the same Square and your payment is processed second, your payment will be refunded in full through Stripe without your need to contact us. We do not guarantee that you will win any race, that a Square will remain in any state for any duration, or that any refund will be issued outside this narrow exception. Chargebacks, payment disputes, and reversals may result in suspension, Square forfeiture, or permanent exclusion from the Service at our discretion.
8. Identity choices, immutability, and reclaim access
At checkout you select what identity elements (if any) are publicly displayed. Handwriting imagery is always public when a Square is not hidden. Name, handle, and face visibility are optional and independent. These choices are recorded at payment and are not editable through the Service thereafter. If you wish to change displayed information after checkout, you must contact us; we may decline or charge a fee, and we have no obligation to accommodate requests. Reclaim authority is tied exclusively to the email address supplied through Stripe checkout and the confidential reclaim link delivered to that address. We do not reissue reclaim links to alternate addresses, verify identity through manual processes, or restore access if you lose email access, delete the message, or share the link. You are solely responsible for safeguarding reclaim credentials.
9. User Content and license grant
You retain ownership of User Content as between you and us, subject to the licenses and rights you grant herein. By submitting User Content, you grant the Operator a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable, transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, display, perform, publish, adapt, translate, store, cache, transmit, and otherwise exploit User Content in connection with the Service, the Grid, marketing of the Service, archival preservation, moderation, legal compliance, and any successor media or platform, in any format or medium now known or later developed, without compensation to you. You represent and warrant that User Content is yours or that you have all necessary rights, consents, and permissions; that User Content does not violate any law or third-party right; and that any photograph of a person depicts you or a person who has consented to public display on the Service. You agree that User Content may remain publicly accessible even after Freeze, hiding, or termination of your participation, except where we remove or obscure it under these Terms or law.
10. Prohibited conduct and content
You may not use the Service unlawfully, to harass others, to impersonate any person, to upload malware or phishing links, to interfere with operations, to scrape or overload systems, to circumvent payment or reclaim mechanisms, or to upload content that is illegal, sexually explicit in a manner we deem inappropriate, hateful, threatening, defamatory, fraudulent, or otherwise objectionable. We may investigate violations and cooperate with law enforcement. Violations may result in hiding, forfeiture, refund denial, and legal action.
11. Moderation, hiding, and enforcement
We may, in our sole discretion and without prior notice, hide, disable, or refuse any Square or User Content that we believe violates these Terms, the Official Rules, applicable law, or community standards, including for NSFW material, hate or targeted harassment, illegal content, malware or phishing, impersonation, or unauthorized likeness. A hidden Square may display no handwriting, face, name, product link, or pricing to other Participants, may be excluded from featured or leaderboard displays, and may be unavailable for new Claims or Acquires by third parties. Hiding does not entitle you to a refund, does not necessarily delete underlying stored files, and does not prevent the original claiming human from Reclaiming if otherwise permitted. Reports may be submitted through in-product controls or by email to hello@thehumansai.com.
12. Clicks, metrics, and disclaimers
When a Square is Acquired, product links may route through our redirect infrastructure so we can increment a click counter. Click counts are operational estimates, not audited analytics. We do not guarantee accuracy, uniqueness per person, bot exclusion, geographic attribution, or suitability for billing or performance measurement. You agree not to rely on click data for commercial, legal, or financial decisions without independent verification.
13. Freeze, permanence, and availability
The Grid enters Freeze after the period stated on the Service (currently thirty (30) days after launch, unless we publish a different schedule). After Freeze, no new Claims, Acquires, or Reclaims are accepted. We intend the Grid to remain publicly viewable for an extended period but do not guarantee hosting duration, URL permanence, backup integrity, or continued operation. The Service may become unavailable due to maintenance, outages, force majeure, vendor termination, or business decisions. We are not liable for any loss arising from unavailability, migration, or shutdown.
14. Third-Party Services and links
The Service integrates with and relies on Third-Party Services, including without limitation Stripe, Vercel, Neon, Resend, OpenAI (model provider for house-agent appraisal), and blob storage providers. Third-Party Services are not under our control. We disclaim all liability for acts or omissions of Third-Party Services. Links to third-party websites are provided for convenience; we do not endorse and are not responsible for third-party content, policies, or practices. Your interactions with acquirers, advertisers, or other Participants are solely between you and them.
15. Intellectual property of the Service
The Service, including software, design, trademarks, logos, and compilation of the Grid (excluding User Content), is owned by the Operator or its licensors and is protected by intellectual property laws. Except for the limited right to participate as expressly permitted, no license is granted. You may not copy, modify, distribute, or create derivative works of the Service without our prior written consent.
16. Disclaimer of warranties
THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE,” WITH ALL FAULTS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, QUIET ENJOYMENT, AND ANY WARRANTIES ARISING OUT OF COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, ERROR-FREE, ACCURATE, COMPLETE, OR FREE OF HARMFUL COMPONENTS, OR THAT ANY SQUARE, LINK, OR METRIC WILL ACHIEVE ANY PARTICULAR RESULT.
17. Limitation of liability
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL THE OPERATOR, ITS OWNERS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AGENTS, LICENSORS, OR SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (USD $100) OR (B) THE TOTAL AMOUNT YOU PAID TO US THROUGH THE SERVICE IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES; IN SUCH JURISDICTIONS, OUR LIABILITY IS LIMITED TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
18. Indemnification
You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Operator and its owners, officers, employees, contractors, agents, licensors, and suppliers from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or related to (a) your User Content, (b) your use of the Service, (c) your violation of these Terms or law, (d) your violation of any third-party right, or (e) any dispute between you and another Participant or third party. We may assume exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification, and you agree to cooperate.
19. Dispute resolution and arbitration
Except for qualifying small-claims matters or claims for injunctive relief relating to intellectual property or unauthorized access, any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service shall be resolved by binding individual arbitration, rather than in court, except that you may assert claims in small claims court if they qualify. The arbitration shall be administered by a recognized arbitration provider under its consumer rules, unless we and you agree otherwise. The arbitrator may award only individual relief. YOU AND THE OPERATOR AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, COLLECTIVE, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION. If a court determines that the class-action waiver is unenforceable, the arbitration agreement shall be void as to that dispute. You may opt out of arbitration within thirty (30) days of first accepting these Terms by emailing hello@thehumansai.com with your name and a clear opt-out statement; opt-out does not affect prior rights.
20. Governing law
These Terms and any dispute arising out of or related to them or the Service shall be governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, United States, without regard to conflict-of-law principles, except where mandatory consumer protection laws of your jurisdiction require otherwise.
21. Changes, assignment, and severability
We may modify these Terms at any time by posting updated Terms on the Service with a revised effective date. Material changes may also be communicated through reasonable means. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance. We may assign these Terms; you may not assign without our consent. If any provision is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force. No waiver is effective unless in writing. These Terms constitute the entire agreement regarding the Service and supersede prior agreements on the subject.
22. Contact
For questions about these Terms, contact hello@thehumansai.com.