Terms of Service

Welcome to Sousy! These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of Sousy, operated by Sousy LLC (“Sousy,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). Sousy is your personal sous chef powered by AI. By accessing or using Sousy in any way (including browsing the site, creating an account, or using the app), you agree to these Terms. If you don’t agree, please do not use our service.

Sousy provides cooking assistance, recipe recommendations, meal planning, and culinary guidance through AI-powered conversations. While we strive to provide helpful and accurate information, please read these Terms carefully to understand your rights and responsibilities.

1. Acceptance of Terms

By creating an account or using Sousy, you confirm that:

• You have read and understood these Terms
• You agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy
• You meet the eligibility requirements outlined below

2. Eligibility and Account Responsibilities

Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years old (or the age of digital consent in your jurisdiction) to use Sousy. If you’re under 18, you confirm that you have permission from a parent or guardian. You may not use Sousy if you are barred from doing so under applicable law.

Account Security

You’re responsible for:

• Maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials
• All activities that occur under your account
• Notifying us immediately if you suspect unauthorized access
• Providing accurate and up-to-date account information

One Account Per Person

You may only create one account for yourself. Creating multiple accounts to circumvent restrictions, usage limits, or to abuse our service is prohibited.

3. Use of the Service

Limited License and Personal Use

Subject to these Terms, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use Sousy for your personal, non-commercial use. You may not resell, redistribute, or use Sousy for any commercial purpose without our prior written consent.

Not Medical or Professional Advice

Important: Sousy is a cooking assistant, not a medical, nutritional, or safety professional. Information provided by Sousy:

• Should not be used as a substitute for professional medical, dietary, nutritional, or safety advice
• Is not tailored to address specific health conditions, allergies, or dietary restrictions unless you explicitly provide that information
• Cannot account for all possible food safety concerns, cross-contamination risks, or allergenic ingredients

Always consult qualified healthcare professionals for medical advice, especially regarding allergies, dietary restrictions, or health conditions.

No Guarantee of Recipe Results

While we strive to provide helpful and tested recipe suggestions:

• Cooking outcomes depend on many factors including ingredients, equipment, technique, and environmental conditions
• You’re responsible for following safe food handling and cooking practices
• We don’t guarantee that recipes will meet your expectations or dietary needs
• Use your judgment when cooking, especially regarding food safety, doneness, and temperature

Your Responsibility for Food Safety

You’re solely responsible for:

• Ensuring foods are cooked to safe internal temperatures
• Proper storage and handling of ingredients
• Checking ingredient freshness and expiration dates
• Avoiding cross-contamination
• Identifying and avoiding allergens

Your Responsibility for Kitchen Safety

Sousy may suggest cooking techniques, equipment, or methods that require proper safety precautions. You’re solely responsible for:

• Safe operation of kitchen appliances and equipment
• Proper ventilation when cooking (never use outdoor grills or combustion appliances indoors)
• Fire safety and prevention
• Safe handling of sharp objects, hot surfaces, and hot liquids
• Following manufacturer instructions for all kitchen equipment
• Using appropriate protective equipment when necessary

If Sousy suggests something that seems unsafe or inappropriate for your kitchen environment, do not follow that advice. Always prioritize your personal safety over any AI-generated suggestion.

Service Changes and Availability

We are constantly improving Sousy. We may add, change, or remove features; impose limits on usage; or suspend or stop the service altogether. We may do this at any time, with or without notice, to the extent permitted by law. We are not responsible for any loss or harm resulting from changes to the service or any temporary or permanent unavailability.

4. User Content

Content You Create

You may contribute content to Sousy, including:

• Recipes you save or create
• Photos of ingredients, dishes, or meals
• Chat conversations with Sousy
• Grocery lists, notes, and feedback

License to Your Content

By submitting content to Sousy, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to:

• Use, host, store, reproduce, and display your content to operate and provide Sousy’s services
• Process your content with AI models to generate personalized recommendations and assistance
• Modify or create derivative works from your content as needed for formatting, compatibility, and internal tools (for example, to parse and structure recipes)
• Improve our service quality using aggregated or anonymized data (we do not use your data to train third-party AI foundation models)

You retain ownership of your content. We won’t share your personal recipes or photos publicly without your permission, except as required by law or to protect our rights and users.

Feedback

If you send us ideas, suggestions, or feedback about Sousy, you agree that we can use them without restriction or obligation to you, and without any compensation. Feedback is entirely voluntary and helps us improve Sousy for everyone.

Content Standards

You agree not to upload or share content that:

• Infringes on others’ intellectual property rights
• Contains malicious code or viruses
• Is illegal, harmful, or offensive
• Violates anyone’s privacy or rights
• Depicts illegal or unsafe activity, including unsafe use of cooking equipment

5. Imported Recipes and Third-Party Content

Recipe Imports

Sousy allows you to import recipes from external websites for your personal use. When you import a recipe:

• The recipe is stored in your personal cookbook for your own private, non-commercial use
• We store the original source URL so you can reference and credit the original creator
• You're responsible for ensuring you have the right to save and use the recipe for personal purposes
• We do not claim ownership of imported recipes
• To improve performance, we may cache parsed recipe data globally so that future imports of the same URL can be processed more quickly for all users

Intellectual Property of Third Parties

Important: While recipe ingredients and basic cooking instructions are generally not copyrightable, the following elements may be protected by copyright:

• Original photographs and images
• Unique written descriptions, stories, and commentary
• Creative expression in how a recipe is presented
• Recipe collections and compilations as a whole

By importing recipes, you agree that:

• You will use imported content only for personal, non-commercial purposes
• You will not redistribute, republish, or commercially exploit imported recipes
• You acknowledge that recipe creators and publishers retain their intellectual property rights
• You will respect the terms of use of the original source websites

Third-Party Products and Recommendations

Sousy may show you product recommendations (such as kitchen tools, ingredients, or cookware), some of which may contain affiliate links. These products are offered and sold by third parties, not by Sousy. We do not guarantee the quality, safety, or suitability of any third-party products or services, and we are not responsible for issues arising from your interactions with those third parties.

No Endorsement

Sousy’s ability to import or display recipes or products from external sources does not imply any endorsement, partnership, or affiliation with those sources. We are not responsible for the accuracy, safety, or quality of recipes, products, or services from external websites or vendors.

6. Prohibited Behavior

You agree not to:

• Use Sousy for any illegal purpose or to violate any laws
• Abuse, harass, threaten, or impersonate others
• Attempt to access another user’s account without permission
• Scrape, copy, or automatically extract data from Sousy without authorization
• Reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract our source code
• Interfere with or disrupt Sousy’s servers or networks
• Use automated tools (bots, scripts) to access Sousy without permission
• Attempt to circumvent any security measures or usage limits
• Resell, sublicense, or redistribute Sousy’s services without authorization

7. AI-Generated Content

Sousy uses AI language models from third-party providers (including Anthropic and OpenAI) to provide cooking assistance and generate recipe recommendations. We do not train these AI foundation models with your personal data—we use them to process your requests and generate responses in real time.

You understand and agree that:

• Accuracy: AI-generated content may contain errors, inaccuracies, or incomplete information. Always verify critical details, especially regarding cooking times, temperatures, and food safety.
• Health and Safety: Exercise caution with AI-generated advice related to allergies, dietary restrictions, food safety, and health conditions. When in doubt, consult professionals.
• Variability: AI responses may vary even for similar questions. The same query may produce different answers at different times.
• No Guarantees: We don’t guarantee that AI-generated recipes will work perfectly, taste as expected, or meet your specific needs.
• Your Judgment: You’re responsible for evaluating AI-generated content and using your best judgment when cooking.
• No Training of Third-Party Models: Your conversations and data are not used to train third-party AI foundation models. They are processed solely to generate responses for you.

8. Subscriptions and Billing

If you subscribe to a paid plan:

• Subscriptions automatically renew unless you cancel before the renewal date
• You authorize us (and our payment processors) to charge your payment method for the fees due
• Prices may change with reasonable notice; changes apply to future billing periods
• Taxes and fees may be added as required by law
• Refunds are handled on a case-by-case basis and are not guaranteed
• You can cancel your subscription at any time through your account settings
• We may suspend or terminate your access to paid features if payment fails or your subscription lapses

Trials and Promotions

From time to time, we may offer free trials or promotional pricing. The specific terms of any trial or promotion will be described at the time of the offer. We reserve the right to modify or cancel such offers at any time.

9. Copyright and DMCA

Respect for Copyright

Sousy respects the intellectual property rights of others and expects users to do the same. We respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and similar laws.

DMCA Takedown Requests

If you believe that content on Sousy infringes your copyright, you may submit a DMCA takedown notice to our designated agent. Your notice must include:

• Identification of the copyrighted work you claim has been infringed
• Identification of the material you claim is infringing and its location on Sousy
• Your contact information (name, address, phone number, email)
• A statement that you have a good faith belief that the use is not authorized by the copyright owner
• A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on their behalf
• Your physical or electronic signature

Send DMCA notices to: dmca@sousy.com

Repeat Infringers

We may terminate accounts of users who are repeat infringers of intellectual property rights.

10. Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability

No Warranty

Sousy is provided “as is” and “as available” without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We don’t warrant that:

• Sousy will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free
• Results or information obtained through Sousy will be accurate or reliable
• Defects will be corrected

Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for:

• Any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages
• Loss of profits, data, use, goodwill, or other intangible losses
• Damages resulting from your use or inability to use Sousy
• Unauthorized access to or alteration of your content
• Food safety issues, allergic reactions, illness, or injury resulting from following recipes or cooking advice
• Issues arising from products or services provided by third-party vendors or websites

In jurisdictions that don’t allow limitation of liability for consequential damages, our liability is limited to the maximum extent permitted by law. In any case, our total liability for any claim arising out of or relating to these Terms or Sousy will not exceed the amount you paid us (if any) in the 3 months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Sousy LLC, its officers, directors, employees, and affiliates from any claims, damages, losses, or expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from:

• Your use of Sousy
• Your violation of these Terms
• Your violation of any rights of another person or entity
• Content you submit to Sousy

12. Termination

You may delete your account at any time through your account settings. We may suspend or terminate your access to Sousy if:

• You violate these Terms
• We’re required to do so by law
• Your use creates security risks or legal liability
• Your account is inactive for an extended period
• We decide to discontinue the service

Upon termination, your right to use Sousy immediately ceases. We will handle your data in accordance with our Privacy Policy, though some information may be retained as permitted or required by law.

13. Governing Law and Disputes

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United States and the State of Delaware, without regard to conflict of law principles. Any disputes arising from these Terms or your use of Sousy will be resolved through good-faith negotiation. If negotiation doesn’t resolve the dispute, it may be subject to binding arbitration or court proceedings as permitted by law.

14. International Users

Sousy is operated from the United States. If you access Sousy from outside the United States, you do so at your own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws.

European Economic Area (EEA) and UK Users

If you’re located in the EEA or UK, you have certain rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or UK GDPR, including:

• The right to access, correct, or delete your personal data
• The right to data portability
• The right to restrict or object to processing
• The right to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent
• The right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority

To exercise these rights, contact us at privacy@sousy.com.

California Users

If you’re a California resident, you have rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), including:

• The right to know what personal information we collect and how it’s used
• The right to delete your personal information
• The right to opt-out of the sale of personal information (we do not sell your personal information)
• The right to non-discrimination for exercising your privacy rights

15. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time to reflect:

• Changes to our service or business practices
• Legal or regulatory requirements
• Security or privacy improvements

When we make significant changes, we’ll notify you by email or through a prominent notice in Sousy. The updated Terms will be effective when posted. Your continued use of Sousy after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the new Terms.

If you don’t agree to the updated Terms, you should stop using Sousy and delete your account.

16. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision will be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.

17. Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Sousy regarding your use of the service. They supersede any prior agreements or understandings.

18. Contact Us

If you have questions about these Terms, please contact us: