Terms and Conditions — ARI Modules Free Trial (Self-Serve)

1. ARI Platform or Platform: BlackBytes' proprietary software platform for orchestrating artificial-intelligence workflows within business processes.
2. Modules: the application products made available under the self-serve Free Trial, namely ARIdb (natural-language database querying), ARIknow (document querying/RAG) and ARIdoc (data extraction from documents). The ARIchat and ARIrun modules, and any other Platform component, are excluded from this offering.
3. Waiting List or Waitlist: the pre-registration mechanism through which the User expresses interest in the Free Trial.
4. Free Trial: the free, temporary, evaluation use of the Modules, activated upon invitation by BlackBytes.
5. Usage Limits: the quantitative and qualitative consumption limits applied to the Free Trial, as set out in Section 7.
6. Test Data: fictitious, sample or otherwise non-personal, non-confidential and non-production data used by the User during the Free Trial.
7. User Content: the data, files, text and any other material uploaded or entered by the User into the Modules.
8. LLM Providers: the third-party large-language-model providers used to deliver the artificial-intelligence functionality of the Modules.

2.1. These Terms govern (i) registration on the Waitlist and (ii) the activation and use of the Free Trial of the Modules.

2.2. These Terms do not govern the paid supply of the Modules or of the Platform, which shall be subject to a separate agreement and related commercial terms.

2.3. In the event of a conflict between these Terms and any in-application notice, these Terms prevail, unless the in-app notice is expressly stated to supplement or amend them.

3.1. The Free Trial is reserved to entities holding a VAT number or equivalent and acting in the course of their business (B2B). Registration by consumers is not permitted.

3.2. The individual who registers represents that it has the authority to bind the User.

3.3. Only one Free Trial is permitted per company or e-mail domain. BlackBytes may refuse or revoke multiple, duplicate or related registrations.

4.1. Registration on the Waitlist involves the collection of a limited set of data (by way of example: name, business e-mail address, company name, role), processed in accordance with the Privacy Notice.

4.2. Registration on the Waitlist grants no right to, and no guarantee of, access to the Free Trial. BlackBytes grants invitations at its sole discretion, based on available capacity, order of registration and any other criteria it deems appropriate.

4.3. An invitation to the Free Trial may be subject to a validity period, upon expiry of which it lapses without notice.

4.4. BlackBytes may, at any time and without any obligation to give reasons, suspend, limit or close the Waitlist.

4.5. Registration on the Waitlist constitutes acceptance of these Terms and acknowledgement of the Privacy Notice. Upon activation of the Free Trial, a further confirmation of acceptance may be requested.

5.1. The Free Trial is activated solely upon invitation by BlackBytes and subject to acceptance of these Terms.

5.2. The Free Trial has an indicative duration of 15 (fifteen) calendar days from the date of activation.

5.3. BlackBytes reserves the right to unilaterally extend, shorten or modify the duration of the Free Trial, for individual Users or generally, at any time and at its discretion.

5.4. The Free Trial is free of charge and does not require the provision of any payment details or credit card. There is no automatic renewal or conversion into a paid service.

6.1. The Free Trial provides access, within the limits set out in Section 7, to the ARIdb, ARIknow and ARIdoc Modules.

6.2. The artificial-intelligence functionality of the Modules is delivered by BlackBytes through LLM Providers. During the Free Trial the related processing costs are borne by BlackBytes, within the limits set out in Section 7.

6.3. The functionality available in the Free Trial may differ from that of the paid version and may include features in preliminary (beta) form.

7.1. Use of the Free Trial is subject to Usage Limits determined by BlackBytes. Such limits are intended, among other things, to contain processing costs and to prevent abuse.

7.2. The applicable Usage Limits and the corresponding consumption status are available to the User within the platform, on the dedicated usage-monitoring page.

7.3. Upon reaching the Usage Limits, access to the affected functionality is interrupted (hard block), with no obligation for BlackBytes to provide further consumption.

7.4. BlackBytes may change the Usage Limits at any time and at its discretion; updated limits are shown on the same page.

8.1. The User may use the Free Trial solely for the internal evaluation of the Modules, within the scope of its business.

8.2. The User is prohibited from:

• a) reselling, sublicensing, renting, assigning or otherwise making available to third parties the Free Trial, the Modules or the Platform, in whole or in part;
• b) decompiling, disassembling, reverse-engineering or attempting to derive the source code or logic of the Platform, save within the mandatory limits of law;
• c) circumventing, disabling or altering the Usage Limits, security controls or authentication mechanisms;
• d) using the Free Trial for unlawful, deceptive or rights-infringing purposes;
• e) uploading User Content in breach of Section 9;
• f) creating multiple accounts or Free Trials in circumvention of Section 3.3.

8.3. User responsibility. The User is solely responsible for the use it makes of the Modules and the Free Trial, for the User Content it enters and for the decisions taken on the basis of the results obtained. The User undertakes to use the Modules in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, the rights of third parties and these Terms. BlackBytes exercises no prior control over the use of the Modules and is not liable for the use the User makes of them.

8.4. Indemnity. The User shall indemnify and hold harmless BlackBytes, as well as its directors, employees and collaborators, from any claim, action, damage, cost, expense or penalty (including reasonable legal fees) brought by third parties or authorities and arising from: (i) improper, unlawful or illegal use of the Modules or the Free Trial; (ii) breach of these Terms or of third-party rights; or (iii) the User Content. The specific indemnity under Section 9.4 remains unaffected.

8.5. Breach of this Section entitles BlackBytes to suspend or terminate the Free Trial immediately pursuant to Section 15.

9.1. The Free Trial is designed for use with Test Data only.

9.2. The User undertakes not to upload or process, through the Modules, any personal data, confidential data, data subject to specific protection obligations, or production data. The User is solely responsible for the User Content it enters.

9.3. As the Free Trial does not involve the processing of personal data on behalf of the User, no data processing agreement (DPA) is entered into. Should the User, in breach of this Section, upload personal or production data, it does so at its sole responsibility.

9.4. The User shall indemnify and hold BlackBytes harmless from any claim, damage, cost or penalty arising from breach of this Section.

10.1. The User retains ownership of its User Content.

10.2. BlackBytes processes User Content solely to deliver the Free Trial and its functionality, including transmission to LLM Providers for processing.

10.3. BlackBytes does not reuse User Content to train, fine-tune or validate artificial-intelligence models, save for the use of aggregated and/or anonymised data and telemetry data for security, diagnostics and service-improvement purposes.

10.4. Upon expiry of the Free Trial, Section 15 (retention and deletion) applies.

11.1. The Platform, the Modules, the related software, documentation, trademarks and all intellectual and industrial property rights are and remain the exclusive property of BlackBytes.

11.2. These Terms do not transfer to the User any rights in the Platform or the Modules, other than the limited, temporary, non-exclusive, non-transferable and non-sublicensable right to use the Free Trial in accordance with these Terms.

11.3. If the User provides suggestions or feedback, BlackBytes may freely use them, without consideration, to improve its products and services.

12.1. The processing of personal data relating to Waitlist registration, account management and use of the Free Trial is governed by the dedicated Privacy Notice, which forms an integral part of these Terms.

12.2. Processing is carried out in compliance with the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP) and, where applicable, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR).

13.1. The Free Trial is provided "as is" and "as available", without any warranty of any kind, express or implied, including warranties of fitness for a particular purpose, continuity, accuracy of results or freedom from errors.

13.2. No support service and no service level (SLA) are provided during the Free Trial. Availability and performance are not guaranteed.

13.3. Outputs generated by the artificial-intelligence functionality may contain errors or inaccuracies; the User must verify them before any use.

14.1. To the maximum extent permitted by Swiss law, BlackBytes shall not be liable for any indirect, consequential or punitive damages, or for loss of profit, loss of data or business interruption arising from the Free Trial or the inability to use it.

14.2. As this is a free service, BlackBytes' overall liability is in any event excluded, save in cases of wilful misconduct or gross negligence, within the mandatory limits of law.

15.1. BlackBytes may suspend or terminate the Free Trial, in whole or in part, at any time and at its discretion, even without notice, in particular in the event of breach of these Terms.

15.2. Upon expiry or termination of the Free Trial, access to the Modules is suspended.

15.3. User Content and account data associated with the Free Trial are deleted after 30 (thirty) days from expiry or termination, unless otherwise communicated.

16.1. BlackBytes may amend these Terms at any time. The updated version is published online, indicating the date of last update.

16.2. Continued use of the Free Trial after publication of the changes constitutes acceptance thereof.

17.1. In connection with the Free Trial, BlackBytes sends the User transactional and service communications (e.g. activation, Usage Limit notices, expiry).

17.2. Promotional and marketing communications are sent only with the data subject's express and separate consent, which may be withdrawn at any time.

18.1. These Terms are governed by Swiss law, excluding its conflict-of-laws rules and the Vienna Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.

18.2. Any dispute shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Lugano (Switzerland), without prejudice to any mandatory forum provided by non-derogable rules.

19.1. Partial invalidity. The invalidity of any clause shall not affect the validity of the remaining clauses, which shall remain fully effective.

19.2. Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Notice, constitute the entire agreement between the parties regarding the Free Trial.

19.3. Assignment. The User may not assign these Terms without BlackBytes' written consent. BlackBytes may assign them in the context of corporate transactions.

19.4. Language. These Terms are drafted in Italian and English. In the event of any discrepancy, the Italian version prevails.

BlackBytes SA
Via Pretorio 13A, 6900 Lugano (Switzerland)
CHE-189.438.083
E-mail: info@bytes.black