Sapling AI — Terms & Conditions

Effective date: June 26, 2026 Version: 2026-06-26

Registered entity: Sapling AI LLC, a Texas limited liability company. This is professionally-structured, conservative boilerplate intended to be enforceable and protective. It is not legal advice. Have qualified counsel review the arbitration / class-action waiver (Section 19), the children's-privacy posture (Section 4), and the limitation of liability (Section 17) before publication. Keep this file in sync with frontend/lib/legal/bundledPolicies.js. Our designated DMCA agent is registered with the U.S. Copyright Office (registration DMCA-1074705); our business mailing address appears in Section 23 and Schedule A.

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS CAREFULLY. SECTION 19 CONTAINS A BINDING INDIVIDUAL-ARBITRATION AGREEMENT AND A CLASS-ACTION AND JURY-TRIAL WAIVER THAT AFFECT YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS. UNLESS YOU OPT OUT WITHIN 30 DAYS AS DESCRIBED IN SECTION 19.7, YOU AGREE TO RESOLVE DISPUTES WITH US THROUGH INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION RATHER THAN IN COURT.

1. Acceptance of these Terms

These Terms & Conditions (the "Terms") form a legally binding agreement between you and Sapling AI LLC ("Sapling AI," "we," "us," or "our") governing your access to and use of the Sapling mobile application, websites, and related services (collectively, the "Services"). By creating an account, checking or tapping an acceptance control, or otherwise accessing or using the Services, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and by our Community Guidelines, Privacy Policy, and Copyright & DMCA Policy, each of which is incorporated into these Terms by reference. If you access the Services through Apple's App Store, the Apple App Store Additional Terms (Schedule A) also apply. If you do not agree to all of the foregoing, do not access or use the Services.

2. Changes to these Terms

We may modify these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we will revise the version and effective date above and, where appropriate, provide additional notice (for example, an in-app prompt to re-accept). Changes are effective when posted unless stated otherwise. Your continued use of the Services after changes take effect constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms. If you do not agree to the revised Terms, you must stop using the Services and may close your account.

3. The Services

Sapling is a creativity platform that uses artificial intelligence to help you generate, edit, play, publish, and share interactive games and related assets (such as images, audio, and text). The Services may include features for discovering and playing games created by others ("Explore"), saving content to a personal library, posting scores to leaderboards, and purchasing optional digital items. When you use the AI features, you are interacting with an automated artificial-intelligence system, not a human, and the games, images, audio, and text it produces are generated by software. We may add, change, suspend, or discontinue any feature of the Services at any time, and we may impose limits on certain features or restrict access to parts or all of the Services, in each case as permitted by law.

Beta and experimental features. We may label certain features as beta, preview, early-access, or experimental, or offer them to a subset of users. These features are provided "as is" for evaluation, may be changed or withdrawn at any time, may be less reliable, and are not subject to any service-level commitment. Your use of them is at your own discretion and risk.

4. Eligibility, Age Requirements & Parental Supervision

Sapling is strictly for users aged 13 and older. The Services are not directed to, designed for, or marketed to children under 13 — including the games and other content made available through the Services — and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13.

Minimum age. You must be at least 13 years old to create an account or use the Services (or the higher minimum age required in your country or by your jurisdiction's data-protection law, such as 16 in parts of the EEA/UK). If you are under 13, you may not use the Services under any circumstances.

Teens and parental supervision. If you are at least 13 but under the age of majority where you live (typically 18), you may use the Services only with the active involvement, supervision, and consent of a parent or legal guardian who agrees to be bound by these Terms and accepts responsibility for your use, including any content you create, publish, or share. Your parent or guardian should review these Terms, our Community Guidelines, and our Privacy Policy with you.

By using the Services, you represent and warrant that you meet these age requirements, that all registration information you provide is accurate, and that you are not barred from using the Services under the laws of any applicable jurisdiction (including U.S. export-control and sanctions laws). If you are accepting these Terms on behalf of a teen user, you represent that you are that user's parent or legal guardian. We may suspend or terminate accounts we reasonably believe belong to a person under 13 and delete associated personal information.

5. Accounts & Security

To use certain features you must create an account. You agree to (a) provide accurate, current, and complete information; (b) keep your credentials confidential; and (c) be responsible for all activity that occurs under your account, whether or not authorized by you. Notify us promptly at support@thesaplingai.com if you suspect any unauthorized access to or use of your account. We may, in our reasonable discretion, reclaim or reassign usernames or other identifiers, including to resolve disputes, protect against impersonation, or comply with law.

You may stop using the Services at any time. You may request deletion of your account and associated data through the in-app account-deletion option where available, or by contacting support@thesaplingai.com or privacy@thesaplingai.com. Deletion is described further in our Privacy Policy.

6. License to Use the Services

Subject to your compliance with these Terms, we grant you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable license to download and use the Sapling application on a device you own or control, and to access and use the Services, solely for your personal, non-commercial use (or, where we expressly enable commercial features, in accordance with those features and any additional terms). This license does not include any right to (and you agree not to):

  • copy, modify, translate, or create derivative works of the Services except as expressly permitted;
  • rent, lease, lend, sell, sublicense, distribute, or otherwise commercially exploit the Services;
  • reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or attempt to derive the source code of the Services, except to the limited extent applicable law expressly permits despite this restriction;
  • remove, obscure, or alter any proprietary notices; or
  • access the Services to build a competing product or to train a competing machine-learning model.

All rights not expressly granted to you are reserved by us and our licensors.

7. Your Content & License to Us

"Your Content" means the games, prompts, instructions, images, audio, video, text, and other materials you create, upload, submit, generate, or share through the Services. As between you and us, you retain all ownership rights you have in Your Content.

You grant Sapling AI a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable (to our service providers acting on our behalf) and transferable license to host, store, cache, reproduce, adapt, modify (e.g., for formatting and technical delivery), publish, publicly perform, publicly display, and distribute Your Content, solely to operate, provide, secure, improve, and promote the Services and the features you choose to use — including, where you elect, publishing a game to Explore, sharing a game, or posting to a leaderboard. For content you publish or share, this license also extends to other users to the extent necessary for them to view, play, save, and interact with that content through the Services. This license continues for as long as Your Content (or copies that others have already saved or shared) remains on the Services, and ends a commercially reasonable time after you delete Your Content or close your account, except for (a) residual copies retained in routine backups for a limited period, (b) content others have already saved or shared, and (c) copies we must retain to comply with law or enforce our rights.

Your copies and service discontinuation. We do not guarantee that Your Content will remain available on the Services indefinitely. If we discontinue the Services, wind down our business, or cease operations for any reason, we will have no obligation to return, export, restore, transfer, or otherwise make Your Content available to you or any third party, except to the extent required by applicable law. We may, but are not obligated to, provide notice or a limited opportunity to retrieve content before a shutdown where feasible.

You represent and warrant that (i) you own or have all rights, licenses, consents, and permissions necessary to grant the above license and to make Your Content available through the Services; (ii) Your Content, and our use of it as permitted here, does not and will not infringe, misappropriate, or violate any third party's intellectual-property, privacy, publicity, or other rights, or any law; and (iii) Your Content complies with these Terms and our Community Guidelines. You are solely responsible for Your Content and the consequences of creating, uploading, or sharing it.

8. Acceptable Use

You agree to use the Services only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms and our Community Guidelines. You must not, and must not attempt to, assist, or permit any person to:

  • create, upload, generate, or share content that is unlawful, fraudulent, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, harassing, threatening, hateful, or that promotes violence, self-harm, terrorism, or discrimination;
  • create, upload, generate, request, or share any content that sexualizes, exploits, or endangers minors, including child sexual abuse material ("CSAM") — we have zero tolerance for such content and will remove it, terminate the accounts involved, preserve evidence, and report it to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and/or law enforcement as required by law;
  • infringe, misappropriate, or violate any patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, moral right, right of privacy, right of publicity, or other intellectual-property or proprietary right;
  • impersonate any person or entity, or misrepresent your identity, age, or affiliation;
  • upload or transmit viruses, malware, or other harmful code, or interfere with, disrupt, overload, or attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Services, accounts, systems, or networks;
  • bypass, disable, defeat, or circumvent (or attempt to) any safety filter, content-moderation system, rate limit, entitlement or paywall check, authentication, geofence, or other technical, security, or usage-control measure;
  • prompt, "jailbreak," or otherwise manipulate the AI features to produce content that violates these Terms or applicable law, or to reveal another user's data, prompts, or our confidential information;
  • use any robot, scraper, crawler, or other automated means to access, harvest, or index the Services or data except as we expressly permit, or collect or store personal information of other users without their consent;
  • use the Services to develop, train, or improve any competing product, model, or dataset; or
  • engage in any conduct that imposes an unreasonable load on our infrastructure, manipulates rankings, ratings, leaderboards, or discovery, or that we reasonably determine to be abusive, deceptive, or harmful to other users, third parties, or us.

Violations may result in removal of content, loss of access to features, suspension, or permanent termination of your account, with or without notice where permitted by law, and may be reported to the appropriate authorities.

9. AI Features & AI-Generated Output

The Services use artificial intelligence and machine-learning systems, including models operated by Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic as our service providers, to generate and edit games, images, audio, text, and other output ("AI Output") in response to your prompts and inputs. You are interacting with an automated system, and AI Output is created by software, not by a human. You acknowledge and agree that:

  • AI Output may be wrong. AI Output is generated by automated systems and may be inaccurate, incomplete, outdated, biased, offensive, nonsensical, or otherwise unsuitable for your purpose. It may not reflect real people, facts, or events even if it appears to. You are solely responsible for reviewing, evaluating, and verifying AI Output before relying on, publishing, sharing, or otherwise using it.
  • Safety filters are not perfect. We apply automated safeguards and moderation designed to reduce harmful Output, but no filter is perfect, and the AI may occasionally produce results that are offensive, inappropriate, or that violate these Terms despite our efforts. If you encounter such Output, stop using it and report it using the in-app Report tools. You must not attempt to defeat these safeguards (see Section 8).
  • Not professional advice. AI Output is provided for general informational and creative purposes only and is not professional advice of any kind (including legal, medical, financial, tax, or safety advice). Do not rely on AI Output as a substitute for advice from a qualified professional.
  • No uniqueness or non-infringement guarantee. Given how generative models work, the same or similar Output may be generated for you and for other users, and we do not represent or warrant that AI Output is original, novel, or free of third-party rights. You are responsible for ensuring your use of AI Output does not infringe any third party's rights.
  • Transparency and labeling. Where required by law (including Article 50 of the EU AI Act) or by an app store, AI-generated or AI-manipulated Output may be marked, watermarked, or otherwise disclosed as artificially generated. You agree not to remove, alter, or conceal any such marking, and — if you publish or share AI Output in a context that requires it (for example, content that could be mistaken for a real person, event, or authoritative information) — you are responsible for disclosing that it was AI-generated, and must not use it to deceive, defame, or impersonate.
  • Ownership of AI Output. As between you and us, and subject to these Terms, your rights in your inputs, and any third-party model provider's terms, we assign to you whatever rights we may have in the AI Output you generate through your authorized use of the Services, so that AI Output is treated as part of "Your Content." You remain responsible for that content under Section 7 and Section 8.
  • Inputs and processing. To generate AI Output, your prompts and related inputs are transmitted to and processed by the third-party AI model providers above, acting as our service providers/processors under contractual confidentiality and security obligations. Our handling of this data is described in the Privacy Policy, the AI Disclosure, and our Subprocessors document. Do not submit content you are not permitted to share or that you do not want processed in this way.

We make no warranty that AI features will meet your requirements or be available, uninterrupted, or error-free, and we may modify, limit, or discontinue AI features at any time.

10. Content Moderation, Reporting & Enforcement

You are responsible for Your Content. We are not obligated to monitor the Services or Your Content, and we do not pre-screen all content. However, we reserve the right (but not the obligation), at our sole discretion and without liability to you, to review, screen, moderate, refuse, restrict, age-gate, remove, or disable access to any content or account at any time, for any reason or no reason, including content we believe violates these Terms, our Community Guidelines, or applicable law, or that may create risk or legal exposure for us or others.

If you encounter content or conduct that violates our Community Guidelines, please use the in-app Report tools or contact support@thesaplingai.com. We review reports and may take action including content removal, feature restriction, suspension, or termination. We may also preserve and disclose content and account information where we believe in good faith it is reasonably necessary to comply with law or legal process, enforce these Terms, respond to claims, or protect the rights, property, or safety of users, the public, or Sapling AI. Decisions may be appealed by contacting support@thesaplingai.com; we will review and reinstate where we determine a mistake was made.

Notice for users in the European Union (Digital Services Act). You can notify us of content you consider illegal through the in-app Report tools or at legal@thesaplingai.com, and we will handle such notices in a timely, diligent, and non-arbitrary way. Our single point of contact for users and for authorities on content matters is legal@thesaplingai.com (communications in English). Where we remove or restrict your content or account, we will, where required, provide a statement of the reasons for our decision, and you may appeal it as described above.

11. Payments, Subscriptions, Credits & Virtual Items

Some features, content, or capacity require payment, including auto-renewing subscriptions, one-time purchases, and consumable or non-consumable in-app credits, packs, or other virtual items ("Digital Goods").

  • Billing through the app stores. Purchases made in the mobile application are processed by the platform through which you obtained the app (the Apple App Store or Google Play) and may be managed by us through a third-party billing service. All purchases are also subject to the applicable store's terms and payment policies. You agree to pay all fees and applicable taxes for purchases you make.
  • No bypassing payment systems. You must not purchase, sell, or attempt to obtain Digital Goods, subscriptions, or paid features outside the in-app purchase mechanisms we provide, and you must not circumvent, manipulate, or defeat entitlement checks, paywalls, billing, or usage limits. Doing so is a material breach of these Terms.
  • Auto-renewing subscriptions and free trials. Subscriptions automatically renew for successive periods of the same length at the then-current price until cancelled. Your subscription will renew, and your payment method (your app-store account) will be charged, within 24 hours before the end of the current period, unless you cancel at least 24 hours before that period ends. If a free trial or introductory offer converts to a paid subscription, you will be charged when the trial ends unless you cancel at least 24 hours before it ends. You can view, manage, and cancel subscriptions in your app-store account settings; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current paid period, and deleting the app does not cancel a subscription. The applicable app store provides the cancellation mechanism, and we do not impose additional steps beyond it.
  • Credits and virtual items. Credits and other virtual items have no monetary value, are not your property, are not redeemable for cash, and are non-transferable except as we expressly allow. They are a limited, revocable license to use a feature of the Services. We may, to the extent permitted by law, change, devalue, limit, expire, or eliminate Digital Goods, and unused Digital Goods may be forfeited on termination of your account or discontinuation of the Services, except where prohibited by law.
  • Price and feature changes. We may change prices, features, and the contents of any plan or Digital Good prospectively. Where required, we will provide advance notice and, for subscriptions, the opportunity to cancel before a price change takes effect.
  • EU/UK consumer right of withdrawal. If you are a consumer in the EEA or UK, you normally have a 14-day right to withdraw from a purchase of digital content. By starting to download, stream, or use the Digital Goods immediately, you request immediate performance and acknowledge that you lose this right of withdrawal once delivery begins. This does not affect your statutory rights if the Digital Goods are faulty or not as described.
  • Refunds. Except where required by applicable law or by the policies of the applicable app store, all payments are final and non-refundable, and there are no refunds or credits for partially used periods, unused Digital Goods, or features you did not use. Refund requests for app-store purchases are generally handled by the applicable app store under its policies.

12. Copyright & DMCA Policy

We respect intellectual-property rights and expect you to do the same. We respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement that comply with the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") and will, in appropriate circumstances and at our discretion, terminate the accounts of users who are repeat infringers. Our full notice-and-takedown and counter-notification procedures, and the contact information for our designated copyright agent, are set out in our Copyright & DMCA Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms. To submit a copyright complaint, contact our designated agent at dmca@thesaplingai.com as described in that Policy.

13. Our Intellectual Property; Feedback

The Services, including all software, code, models, designs, text, graphics, user interfaces, the "Sapling" and "Sapling AI" names, logos, and other branding, and all related intellectual-property rights, are owned by Sapling AI or its licensors and are protected by intellectual-property and other laws. Except for the limited license in Section 6, these Terms do not grant you any right, title, or interest in the Services or our trademarks, and you may not use our trademarks without our prior written permission.

If you choose to send us suggestions, ideas, or other feedback about the Services ("Feedback"), you grant us a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, fully sublicensable license to use and exploit the Feedback for any purpose, without any obligation or compensation to you.

14. Third-Party Services & Content

The Services rely on, link to, or interoperate with third-party products, services, and content, including cloud hosting and account services, AI model providers, purchase and subscription management (including the app stores), product analytics, and crash and error diagnostics. We do not control and are not responsible for third-party services or content, and your use of them may be governed by their own terms and privacy policies. Content created or shared by other users is the responsibility of those users, not us. Your dealings with third parties are solely between you and them.

15. Suspension & Termination

You may stop using the Services and delete your account at any time. We may suspend, restrict, or terminate your access to the Services (or any part of them), remove or disable Your Content or any games or content you created or shared, and/or close your account, at any time and with or without notice where permitted by law, including if (a) you violate or we reasonably believe you have violated these Terms, the Community Guidelines, or applicable law; (b) your conduct may cause harm, risk, or legal exposure to us, other users, or third parties; (c) required by law or by an app store; or (d) we discontinue the Services.

On termination, your right to access and use the Services and your licenses under these Terms end, and we may delete Your Content and account data, subject to our Privacy Policy and applicable law. Termination does not entitle you to any refund except as required by law or an app store's policies. Sections that by their nature should survive termination will survive, including Sections 7 (license to us, as to content already shared), 8, 9, 11 (accrued payment obligations), 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21.

16. Disclaimers of Warranties

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE SERVICES, INCLUDING ALL CONTENT AND AI OUTPUT, ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITH ALL FAULTS AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE. WE SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, QUIET ENJOYMENT, ACCURACY, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ANY WARRANTIES ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, TIMELY, OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, THAT THE SERVICES OR ANY SERVERS ARE FREE OF HARMFUL COMPONENTS, OR THAT ANY CONTENT OR AI OUTPUT WILL BE ACCURATE, RELIABLE, ORIGINAL, NON-INFRINGING, OR FIT FOR ANY PURPOSE. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED FROM US OR THROUGH THE SERVICES, CREATES ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED HERE.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU; IN THAT CASE, SUCH WARRANTIES ARE LIMITED TO THE MINIMUM SCOPE AND DURATION PERMITTED BY LAW.

17. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL SAPLING AI OR ITS AFFILIATES, OR THEIR RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, LICENSORS, OR SUPPLIERS, BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, OR FOR ANY DAMAGES RELATING TO AI OUTPUT, USER CONTENT, OR YOUR RELIANCE ON THE SERVICES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICES, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STATUTE, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, AND WHETHER OR NOT WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, OUR TOTAL CUMULATIVE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICES WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE TOTAL AMOUNT YOU PAID US FOR THE SERVICES IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (USD $100).

THESE LIMITATIONS ARE AN ESSENTIAL BASIS OF THE BARGAIN BETWEEN YOU AND US. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU; IN THAT CASE, OUR LIABILITY IS LIMITED TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. NOTHING IN THESE TERMS LIMITS LIABILITY THAT CANNOT BE LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.

18. Indemnification

To the maximum extent permitted by law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Sapling AI and its affiliates and their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, licensors, and suppliers from and against any and all claims, demands, actions, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees and costs) arising out of or relating to: (a) Your Content; (b) your use or misuse of the Services; (c) your violation of these Terms, the Community Guidelines, or any applicable law; or (d) your violation of any rights of a third party. We reserve the right, at our own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you, in which case you agree to cooperate with our defense. You may not settle any matter that imposes any obligation or admission on us without our prior written consent.

19. Dispute Resolution, Binding Arbitration & Class-Action Waiver

PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY — IT AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING YOUR RIGHT TO FILE A LAWSUIT IN COURT AND TO HAVE A JURY TRIAL, AND REQUIRES INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION OF MOST DISPUTES. THIS SECTION DOES NOT APPLY TO THE EXTENT PROHIBITED BY APPLICABLE LAW.

19.1 Informal resolution first. Before starting an arbitration or any proceeding, you and we agree to try to resolve the dispute informally for at least sixty (60) days. To begin, the complaining party must send a written Notice of Dispute to the other describing the claim and the relief sought: to us at legal@thesaplingai.com (and, if requested, by mail to our address in Section 23); to you at the email associated with your account. You and an authorized representative of Sapling AI agree to negotiate in good faith and, if either party requests, to attend an individualized telephone or videoconference settlement conference. This informal-resolution process is a condition precedent to commencing arbitration, and any limitations period and arbitration filing fees are tolled while it is pending.

19.2 Agreement to arbitrate. If the dispute is not resolved within sixty (60) days of the Notice of Dispute, you and Sapling AI agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services (a "Dispute"), other than those described in Sections 19.5 and 19.6, will be resolved exclusively by final and binding individual arbitration, and not in a court, except that either party may bring an individual claim in small-claims court. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this Section.

19.3 Arbitration rules and forum. The arbitration will be administered by the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") under its Consumer Arbitration Rules and, where applicable to coordinated filings, the AAA Mass Arbitration Supplementary Rules (collectively, the "AAA Rules"), as modified by these Terms. The AAA Rules and filing instructions are available at adr.org. The arbitration will be conducted in the English language by a single neutral arbitrator. For claims of US $25,000 or less, the arbitration will be conducted by telephone or videoconference or on the basis of written submissions, unless the arbitrator decides an in-person hearing is needed; any in-person hearing will take place in the county where you reside or at another mutually agreed location. The arbitrator has exclusive authority to resolve any Dispute, including the arbitrability of any claim, except that a court (not an arbitrator) will decide any dispute about the scope, enforceability, or validity of the Class-Action Waiver in Section 19.4. The arbitrator may award the same individual remedies and relief that a court could, and any award may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction. Payment of all filing, administration, and arbitrator fees will be governed by the AAA Rules, except that we will pay or reimburse those fees to the extent required by the AAA Rules or applicable law, or where charging them to you would be prohibitively expensive compared with litigation.

19.4 Class-action and representative-action waiver. YOU AND SAPLING AI AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, COLLECTIVE, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. The arbitrator may not consolidate or join the claims of more than one person, and may not preside over any form of a class, collective, or representative proceeding, except as expressly provided in the coordinated-proceedings process in Section 19.8. If a court or arbitrator decides that applicable law precludes enforcement of any part of this Class-Action Waiver as to a particular claim for relief, then that claim (and only that claim) must be severed from the arbitration and brought in a court of competent jurisdiction, while all other claims proceed in arbitration. If this entire Section 19.4 is found unenforceable, then the entirety of Section 19.2 (Agreement to arbitrate) is null and void as to the affected Dispute.

19.5 Small-claims and individual-court exception. Either party may bring an individual action in a small-claims court for disputes within that court's jurisdiction, in lieu of arbitration, so long as the action remains an individual action.

19.6 Injunctive relief for intellectual property and misuse. Notwithstanding the agreement to arbitrate, either party may bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction seeking temporary or preliminary injunctive or other equitable relief to prevent the actual or threatened infringement, misappropriation, or violation of intellectual-property rights or unauthorized access to or misuse of the Services, pending resolution of the underlying Dispute.

19.7 30-day right to opt out of arbitration. You may opt out of this arbitration agreement (Sections 19.2–19.4 and 19.8) within 30 days after you first accept these Terms (or this Section, if added later) by sending written notice to legal@thesaplingai.com with the subject line "Arbitration Opt-Out," stating your name, the email associated with your account, and a clear statement that you do not wish to resolve disputes through arbitration. Opting out will not affect any other part of these Terms and will not affect any prior or other agreement to arbitrate. If you opt out, Section 20 (Governing Law & Venue) governs court actions between us.

19.8 Coordinated and mass filings. If 25 or more similar Notices of Dispute or arbitration demands are submitted by or with the coordination or assistance of the same or coordinated counsel or organizations, you and we agree the AAA Mass Arbitration Supplementary Rules apply, including the appointment of a process arbitrator and a global mediation, and that the AAA's mass-arbitration fee schedule governs fees. The parties will cooperate in good faith with the AAA's administrative process to resolve coordinated filings efficiently and fairly. Nothing in this Section requires any claimant's individual claim to be bound by the result of another claimant's claim.

19.9 Changes to this Section. If we make a material change to this Section 19 after you accept it, you may reject the change by sending written notice to legal@thesaplingai.com within 30 days of the change, in which case the most recent version of this Section before the change will apply; otherwise the change applies prospectively to Disputes arising after the change.

19.10 Survival and severability. This Section 19 survives termination of these Terms and your relationship with us. Except as provided in Section 19.4, if any part of this Section is found unenforceable, the remainder will continue to apply.

20. Governing Law & Venue

These Terms and any Dispute are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, United States, and applicable U.S. federal law (including the Federal Arbitration Act), without regard to conflict-of-law principles. Subject to Section 19, for any Dispute not subject to arbitration, you and Sapling AI submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Travis County, Texas, and waive any objection to venue or inconvenient forum, except that this Section does not deprive you of the protection of any mandatory consumer-protection or other non-waivable law of the country or state in which you reside, or of your right to bring proceedings in your local courts where applicable law gives you that right. To the extent permitted by law, any Dispute must be brought within one (1) year after it arises.

21. Export Controls, Sanctions & U.S. Government End Users

You represent and warrant that you are not located in, under the control of, or a national or resident of any country subject to a U.S. Government embargo or designated by the U.S. Government as a "terrorist supporting" country, and that you are not on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties (including the U.S. Treasury Department's list of Specially Designated Nationals or the U.S. Department of Commerce's Denied Persons or Entity List). You agree to comply with all applicable U.S. and other export-control and economic-sanctions laws and not to use or export the Services in violation of them. The Services and related software are "commercial computer software" and "commercial computer software documentation," and any use, duplication, or disclosure by the U.S. Government is subject to the restrictions in FAR 12.212 and DFARS 227.7202, as applicable.

22. General

  • Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the Community Guidelines, Privacy Policy, Copyright & DMCA Policy, AI Disclosure, Schedule A, and any additional terms you agree to for specific features, are the entire agreement between you and Sapling AI regarding the Services and supersede all prior agreements on that subject.
  • Notice for California residents. Under California Civil Code § 1789.3, California users are entitled to the following notice: the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs may be contacted in writing at 1625 North Market Blvd., Suite N 112, Sacramento, CA 95834, or by telephone at (800) 952-5210. You may also reach us at support@thesaplingai.com.
  • Severability. If any provision is held invalid or unenforceable, that provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible and the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect (subject to Section 19.4).
  • No waiver. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of our right to do so later.
  • Assignment. You may not assign or transfer these Terms or your account without our prior written consent; any attempted assignment in violation of this section is void. We may assign these Terms, in whole or in part, including in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of assets.
  • Force majeure. We are not liable for any failure or delay in performance caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including acts of God, natural disasters, war, terrorism, civil unrest, labor disputes, governmental action, internet or utility failures, or third-party service outages.
  • Notices & electronic communications. You consent to receive communications from us electronically (by email, in-app messages, or by posting in the Services), and you agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications we provide electronically satisfy any legal requirement that they be in writing. We may give notice to you via the email associated with your account or by posting in the Services; you may give notice to us at the contacts below. This consent is provided under the U.S. E-SIGN Act and similar laws.
  • Relationship. Nothing in these Terms creates any partnership, joint venture, agency, employment, or fiduciary relationship between you and us.
  • Headings. Section headings are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation.
  • Third-party beneficiaries. Except for Apple and its subsidiaries as provided in Schedule A, there are no third-party beneficiaries of these Terms.

23. Contact

Schedule A — Apple App Store Additional Terms

These additional terms apply only if you download or use the Sapling application from the Apple App Store, and supplement (and where required, control over) the Terms above with respect to your use of the application on an Apple device.

  1. Acknowledgement. These Terms are concluded between you and Sapling AI only, and not with Apple Inc. ("Apple"). Sapling AI, not Apple, is solely responsible for the Sapling application and its content. Apple has no obligation whatsoever to furnish any maintenance and support services with respect to the application.
  2. Scope of license. The license granted to you for the application is a non-transferable license to use the application on any Apple-branded products that you own or control, and as permitted by the Usage Rules set out in the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions, except that the application may be accessed and used by other accounts associated with you via Family Sharing or volume purchasing, where enabled.
  3. Maintenance and support. Sapling AI is solely responsible for providing any maintenance and support services with respect to the application, as required under applicable law or these Terms. Apple has no obligation whatsoever to furnish any maintenance and support services with respect to the application.
  4. Warranty. Sapling AI is solely responsible for any product warranties, whether express or implied by law, to the extent not effectively disclaimed. In the event of any failure of the application to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price (if any) for the application to you; to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Apple will have no other warranty obligation whatsoever with respect to the application, and any other claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, or expenses attributable to any failure to conform to any warranty will be Sapling AI's sole responsibility.
  5. Product claims. Sapling AI, not Apple, is responsible for addressing any claims by you or any third party relating to the application or your possession and/or use of the application, including (a) product-liability claims; (b) any claim that the application fails to conform to any applicable legal or regulatory requirement; and (c) claims arising under consumer-protection, privacy, or similar legislation, including in connection with the application's use of any third-party software.
  6. Intellectual property. In the event of any third-party claim that the application or your possession and use of it infringes that third party's intellectual-property rights, Sapling AI, not Apple, will be solely responsible for the investigation, defense, settlement, and discharge of any such infringement claim.
  7. Legal compliance. You represent and warrant that (a) you are not located in a country that is subject to a U.S. Government embargo, or that has been designated by the U.S. Government as a "terrorist supporting" country; and (b) you are not listed on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
  8. Developer name and address. Questions, complaints, or claims with respect to the application should be directed to: Sapling AI LLC, support@thesaplingai.com, 812 West McDermott Dr #1303, Allen, TX 75013, United States.
  9. Third-party terms. You must comply with applicable third-party terms of agreement when using the application.
  10. Third-party beneficiary. You acknowledge and agree that Apple, and Apple's subsidiaries, are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms, and that, upon your acceptance of these Terms, Apple will have the right (and will be deemed to have accepted the right) to enforce these Terms against you as a third-party beneficiary.
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