Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the nuLUCA platform, website at www.nuluca.com, and related services (collectively, the "Service"), operated by nuLUCA ("we," "us," or "our").

By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to these Terms, do not use the Service.

nuLUCA is a biomimicry and computational design platform that provides:

• Personalized research updates curated by focus area
• Tutorials and courses, including AI-led interactive learning
• Design tools and project workspaces
• AI-powered search and analysis across biomimicry, computational design, and related fields

The Service uses artificial intelligence models provided by third parties (including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google) to process queries, generate research summaries, and provide design insights.

To use the Service, you must be at least 16 years old. By creating an account, you represent that you meet this age requirement.

You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account. Authentication is handled via passwordless methods (magic link or one-time passcode) through our authentication provider, Clerk. You agree to provide accurate information during registration and to keep your contact information current.

You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account. Notify us immediately at [email protected] if you believe your account has been compromised.

nuLUCA offers the following tiers:

• Free — Access to the platform with metered usage limits
• Basic — Entry-level paid tier with increased usage limits
• Pro — Higher usage limits and additional features
• Max — Maximum usage limits and priority access

Billing

Paid subscriptions are billed on a recurring monthly basis. Payments are processed securely by Stripe. nuLUCA does not store your credit card information.

Usage Limits

Each tier includes usage allowances for AI-powered features. Allowances include a short-term allowance that regenerates after a period of inactivity and a weekly allowance that resets at the start of each week. When all allowances are depleted, AI-powered features are temporarily unavailable until allowances regenerate, the weekly allowance resets, or you upgrade your plan. You are never locked out of the platform itself — only AI-powered features are affected by usage limits.

Account Balance

Your account may hold a credit balance, either from purchased credits or from a prior platform migration. When your tier allowances are depleted, usage may draw from your account balance before AI features are paused. Credit balances do not expire.

Renewals & Cancellation

Subscriptions automatically renew unless you cancel before the end of the current billing period. You may cancel at any time from your account settings. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period; no partial refunds are provided for unused time in a billing cycle.

Price Changes

We will provide at least 30 days' notice before any price increase takes effect. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the new pricing.

Refunds

We do not provide refunds for partial billing periods. If you believe a charge was made in error, contact us at [email protected] within 30 days of the charge.

Accuracy Disclaimer

AI-generated content on nuLUCA — including research summaries, design suggestions, biomimicry analyses, and search results — is produced by machine learning models and is not tested, verified, endorsed, or guaranteed to be accurate, complete, or current.

You are solely responsible for independently verifying all AI-generated outputs before relying on them for any professional, academic, or design decision. AI outputs are intended as research aids and sources of inspiration, not as certified engineering specifications, structural calculations, or regulatory compliance guidance.

Third-Party AI Providers

When you use AI-powered features, your inputs (queries, context, and related data) are transmitted to third-party AI providers, specifically:

• OpenAI (for language model processing)
• Anthropic (for language model processing)
• Google / Vertex AI (for language model processing)

These providers process your inputs in accordance with their respective API terms and privacy policies. Under their current API terms, inputs submitted through the API are not used to train their models.

Sensitive Information

Do not submit confidential information, trade secrets, or sensitive personal data of third parties through AI-powered features. While we take reasonable precautions, data transmitted to third-party providers is subject to their security practices.

Your Content

You retain ownership of all data, project files, and other content you submit to the Service ("Your Content"). By using the Service, you grant us a limited license to store, process, and display Your Content solely to provide and improve the Service.

AI-Generated Outputs

To the extent we hold any rights in AI-generated outputs produced in response to your inputs, we assign those rights to you. However, please be aware:

• Purely AI-generated works may not be eligible for copyright protection under current U.S. and EU law, which generally requires human authorship.
• The degree of copyright protection available may depend on the extent of your human creative input and selection.
• Other users submitting similar inputs may receive similar or identical outputs. We do not guarantee exclusivity.

Platform Content

Tutorials, courses, curated research, interface design, and other platform content are owned by nuLUCA or its licensors and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. You may not reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works from platform content without our written permission.

No Training on Your Data

We do not use Your Content or your AI query inputs to train machine learning models. We may use anonymized, aggregated usage data (such as feature popularity and query volume) to improve the Service.

You agree not to:

• Use the Service for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable law
• Attempt to reverse-engineer, decompile, or extract source code from the Service
• Use automated tools, bots, or scripts to access the Service or circumvent usage limits
• Scrape, harvest, or bulk-download content from the Service
• Use AI outputs to build competing AI models or services
• Misrepresent AI-generated content as solely human-authored expert advice in professional or academic contexts
• Submit content that infringes the intellectual property rights of others
• Use the Service to generate content that is defamatory, harassing, threatening, or illegal
• Interfere with or disrupt the Service or its infrastructure
• Share your account credentials with others or allow unauthorized access to your account
• Submit personally identifiable information of third parties without their authorization through AI features

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these restrictions, with or without notice, depending on the severity of the violation.

Your use of the Service is also governed by our Privacy Policy, which describes how we collect, use, and protect your personal information. The Privacy Policy is incorporated into these Terms by reference.

"As Is" Disclaimer

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure, or that any defects will be corrected. We do not warrant the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of any content provided through the Service, including AI-generated outputs.

Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL NULUCA BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, USE, OR GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE.

OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICE SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID TO US IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($100).

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

Professional Use Warning

nuLUCA is a research and design exploration tool. Outputs from the Service should not be used as a substitute for professional engineering judgment, licensed architectural review, structural analysis, or regulatory compliance verification. You assume all risk associated with your use of Service outputs in professional contexts.

We strive to keep the Service available but do not guarantee uninterrupted access. The Service may be temporarily unavailable due to maintenance, updates, or circumstances beyond our control.

We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue any feature of the Service at any time. We will make reasonable efforts to provide advance notice of significant changes.

The availability of specific AI models is subject to third-party provider terms and may change without notice.

You may close your account at any time by contacting us at [email protected] or through your account settings.

We may suspend or terminate your account if you violate these Terms, including the Acceptable Use provisions. For serious violations, we may terminate immediately without prior notice.

Upon termination, your right to use the Service ceases immediately. We will retain your data for a limited period as described in our Privacy Policy, after which it will be deleted. You may request a copy of your data before account closure.

We may update these Terms from time to time. For material changes, we will notify you by email at least 30 days before the changes take effect. Non-material changes (such as clarifications or formatting updates) may take effect immediately upon posting.

Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of updated Terms constitutes acceptance of those changes. If you do not agree to the updated Terms, you should stop using the Service and close your account.

Previous versions of these Terms are available upon request.

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware, United States, without regard to conflict of law principles.

Any disputes arising from these Terms or the Service shall be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Maricopa County, Arizona, and you consent to the personal jurisdiction of such courts.

For users in the European Union: nothing in these Terms affects your rights under mandatory consumer protection laws of your country of residence, including your right to bring claims in your local courts.

If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect. Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms will not be considered a waiver of that right or provision.

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and nuLUCA regarding the Service.

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

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.nuluca.com