Terms of Use KI-Toolbox
Scope and purpose
The KI-Toolbox is a service of the Scientific Computing Center (SCC) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) for the use of various generative AI models (Artificial Intelligence) in the context of business or study-related activities. The service is aimed at KIT employees, KIT students (from April 2026) and users with a guest and partner account (GuP).
The provisions of the KIT ICT Regulations on permitted use, user obligations, operator authorizations, measures in the event of violations, logging and liability apply. These Terms of Use supplement the ICT Regulations exclusively with AI-specific requirements (data categories/risk classes, choice of model locally vs. Azure, use of audits, export control, data protection features).
Access, authentication and accounts
Access to KI-Toolbox is via the KIT account via Single Sign On (OpenID Connect). Two-factor authentication is currently not required.
Only standard users and administrators are currently provided as roles in the KI-Toolbox. Groups for the KI-Toolbox can be created via the group administration, the group memberships are synchronized when logging in. Groups with special rights are technically possible and can be assigned by the SCC in special cases.
Service description, models and providers
Open source models hosted locally at the SCC vary depending on availability and version. The decommissioning of local models is announced at least 4 weeks in advance and disseminated via SCC notification channels.
For the OpenAI models obtained via Azure (Azure OpenAI), the training use of customer data is permanently deactivated. Requests to Azure OpenAI are processed within the EU region (data centers in Germany and Sweden).
The service is operated as a "best effort" - high availability and performance are aimed for, but without an SLA or availability guarantee.
Data categories, protection classes and model selection
Personal data (Art. 4 No. 1 GDPR) may only be processed via the models hosted locally at KIT. Processing personal data via the Azure OpenAI models is prohibited.
With regard to the risk classification of KIT, the following applies: https: //www.isb.kit.edu/134.php.
- High-risk use: only with locally hosted models
- Very high risk use: prohibited
The lawful processing, selection of a suitable model and necessary protective measures are the responsibility of the user.
It is prohibited to enter export-controlled, sanction-relevant or other security-restricted information into the KI-Toolbox.
Logging, storage, deletion and backups
Chat histories, uploaded files and AI-generated outputs are stored in Open-WebUI on a user-specific basis for one year; users can delete these independently at any time. When the account is deactivated (e.g. by leaving KIT), chat histories are deleted after 24 hours at the latest.
For capacity and billing purposes, the metadata of the request (user ID, time, selected model, number of input/output tokens) is stored on SCC servers when an AI request is sent and is not merged with other data. This data is stored for one year. The content of the requests and the answers are not stored for this purpose. It is not possible for users to delete this metadata themselves.
System backups with standard rotation/retention periods may result in deleted data being retained in backups for a limited period of time. Operational access only takes place for recovery and security purposes.
Training, fine-tuning and evaluation
User content (prompts, uploads, outputs) is treated as strictly confidential by the SCC and is not used for training, fine-tuning, evaluation or research purposes.
Training use by the third-party provider is deactivated for the models provided via Azure.
Copyright and sovereignty of results
Users are responsible for compliance with copyright, license, trademark, personality and confidentiality rights and other third-party rights. The relevant KIT regulations apply.
Generated content may be inaccurate, incomplete or legally problematic. Before further use, an appropriate technical and legal review by the user is required.
Users retain the rights to their own entries. Users acquire rights of use to generated content to the extent permitted by law; the rights of third parties remain unaffected. License conditions of individual open source models may also have to be observed.
Permitted use
The KI-Toolbox may only be used for business or study-related purposes. Use for private purposes is not permitted.
Use in examination contexts is only permitted with the express permission of the responsible examination supervisor and within the framework of the applicable examination regulations.
The creation and use of manipulative AI content (e.g. deepfakes) without identification/authorization is prohibited. The model must be selected strictly in accordance with the 'Data categories/risk classes' section.
Budget
There is currently a monthly budget of USD 25 per user for the use of external models. If the budget is exceeded, a corresponding error message is displayed when a model is used ("ExceededBudget: EndUser=xy1234∂kit.edu over budget. Spend=xxx.xxxxxxx, Budget=25.0"). The budget is reset for all users at the beginning of the month at midnight (UTC).
At the moment, it is not possible to adjust the budget individually; this option is currently being developed and will be made available shortly.
The use of local models will not be counted towards the budget or will be charged at 0 USD. If the budget is exceeded, the use of local models is still possible.
Costs and fair use
There are currently no costs for using the KI-Toolbox. The SCC reserves the right to introduce consumption-based billing for the use of the KI-Toolbox in the future or to block access to external models; all users will be informed of this in good time.
There is currently a rate limit per user of 60 requests per minute. Users are obliged to use resources fairly to ensure availability for all.
Responsibility of the users
There is no content or legal review of inputs or outputs. Generated content may be incorrect or misleading and must not be used without reflection. The professional review and responsibility for further use lies with the user.
Data protection
The privacy policy for the KI-Toolbox is authoritative.
Governance, compliance and documentation
The provisions of the KIT ICT regulations apply. Furthermore, the KIT AI guidelines(https://www.kit.edu/downloads/KI-Leitlinien-de.pdf) and the KIT risk classification(https://www.isb.kit.edu/134.php) must be observed.
Automatic archiving of official results does not take place. Required archiving and documentation must be ensured by the users (e.g. export of chat histories).
Updated on 16.04.2025: Introduction of the budget, use for students, rate limit