Terms of Use (ToU) – AlphaEdge API Services

Preamble

These Terms of Use (hereinafter the ToU) define the technical, legal and financial conditions under which AlphaEdge (hereinafter the Publisher) provides the Client (hereinafter the User) with access to its application programming interfaces (hereinafter the API).

Access to the API implies unreserved acceptance of these ToU, which supplement AlphaEdge's General Terms and Conditions of Sale (GTC). In the event of any conflict between the GTC and the ToU, these ToU shall prevail for anything relating to the specific use of the API.

Article 1: Service description

The AlphaEdge API enables automated optical character recognition (OCR) through two distinct modules:

1. AlphaDigit Handwritten module — Transcription of handwritten text as plain-text output.
2. AlphaDigit Max module — High-fidelity transcription of mixed (alphanumeric) fields for complex forms.

The service is provided as SaaS (Software as a Service), accessible via secure authentication keys.

Article 2: Intellectual property and protection of the core engine

2.1. Background ownership

Pursuant to Article 8.1 of the GTC, the Publisher remains the sole owner of all intellectual property rights relating to its AI models, inference engines, proprietary software libraries and know-how (hereinafter the Background).

2.2. License to use

The Publisher grants the User a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable right of use, limited to the term of the contract, to call the API endpoints.

2.3. Prohibition of reverse engineering

The User is strictly prohibited from performing any reverse engineering, decompilation, extraction of AI model weights or attempt to reconstruct the source code of the algorithms. Any use of the API intended to create a competing model through distillation or mimicry constitutes a serious breach of contract.

Article 3: Data processing and confidentiality (GDPR)

3.1. Role of the parties

Under the GDPR, the User is the Data Controller and the Publisher is the Data Processor.

3.2. Ephemeral data

The Publisher guarantees that images and documents transmitted via the API are not subject to any persistent storage. Data is processed in volatile memory for the time strictly necessary for inference and is deleted immediately after the JSON response is sent.

3.3. Isolation and no training

The Publisher formally undertakes not to use the User's data (images or transcribed text) for training, improvement or fine-tuning of its own generic AI models.

3.4. Location

All processing is carried out on infrastructure located within the European Union, ensuring a level of protection consistent with sovereign requirements.

Article 4: Availability and service levels (SLA)

4.1. Availability (Uptime)

The Publisher commits to a monthly availability rate of 99.9%. This rate excludes periods of preventive maintenance announced with 48 hours' notice.

4.2. Technical support

Level 2 support is available Monday to Friday (9 a.m.–6 p.m.). In the event of a total service outage, the Publisher commits to a Response Time Guarantee (RTG) of 4 business hours.

4.3. Penalties

If the SLA is not met for two consecutive months, a 5% discount will be applied to the following month's invoice, as a flat-rate and final indemnity.

Article 5: Financial terms

5.1. Billing unit

Applicable service prices are public and expressly defined within the API https://api-docs.alphaedge-ai.com/docs/our_models/ (via its public documentation or a dedicated endpoint). Any unit started is due.

5.2. Metering

Consumption logs generated by the AlphaEdge platform are authoritative for billing.

5.3. Payment

Pursuant to Article 5 of the GTC, API consumption invoices are payable within 30 days. Any delay results in automatic suspension of the API key after a formal notice remains unsuccessful for 48 hours.

Article 6: Liability and limitations

6.1. Nature of the obligation

As AI inference is subject to document quality variables, the Publisher is bound by an enhanced best-efforts obligation. It cannot guarantee 100% reading accuracy.

6.2. Validation of results

It is the User's responsibility to implement the necessary consistency checks. The Publisher cannot be held liable for decisions made on the basis of the transcriptions provided.

6.3. Cap on liability

The Publisher's total liability, for all claims combined, is limited to the amount excluding tax actually paid by the User for API usage over the preceding twelve (12) months.

Article 7: Security and audit

7.1. Access security

The User is solely responsible for the confidentiality of their API keys. Any request made with the Client's key is deemed to have been made by them.

7.2. Audit

For enterprise clients, the Publisher authorizes an annual audit of security and GDPR compliance processes, carried out by an independent firm at the requester's expense.

Article 8: Termination

Either party may terminate API access in the event of a serious breach by the other party of these obligations, after 30 days' notice. Upon termination, the User must immediately cease all calls to the Publisher's endpoints.

Article 9: Governing law and jurisdiction

These ToU are governed by French law. In the event of a dispute, and after an attempt at amicable resolution, exclusive jurisdiction is assigned to the Angers Commercial Court.