Back to AI Tools
Semantic Scholar
Risk Overview
Minimal Risk
2.9
/10
Research
·
Knowledge Assistant
·
Top Risks
Indefinite storage of author metadata even after removal requests (display removed but not fully deleted from all systems). Core ToS is dated 2016 and may not reflect current data practices for AI-enhanced features. As an AI research nonprofit, may use interaction data to advance research into search/recommendation systems.
Mitigations
Nonprofit status (Allen Institute for AI) eliminates commercial data monetization incentive. Explicit no-data-sale/rent commitment. Open science mission aligns with researcher privacy. No arbitration clauses found. US nonprofit accountability frameworks apply. Lowest overall risk score in this batch along with Consensus.
Get started
Is your team using
Semantic Scholar
safely?
Highest Risk Categories
The highest-scoring risk categories identified in this assessment.
Data Retention
Author metadata 'stored indefinitely' per privacy policy. Removal from public display does not result in complete deletion of associated content from all internal systems. Personal data deletion requests can be submitted. Indefinite storage of some author data is a notable risk, partially mitigated by the public/published nature of academic authorship metadata.
5
/10
Training Use
Nonprofit research institute (Ai2) operates Semantic Scholar. Privacy policy states Ai2 'will not sell or rent information collected from you.' As a nonprofit AI research lab, Ai2 may use interaction data for improving its research tools (its mission), but there is no commercial training incentive. No explicit prohibition on using search interactions to improve models, but mission alignment and nonprofit status significantly reduce risk.
3
/10
Data Sovereignty
Allen Institute for AI is a US nonprofit based in Seattle, WA (founded by Paul Allen). Data hosted on AWS (us-west-2 per original ToS URL). Privacy policy references EU user rights. As a nonprofit with open science mission, governance and data practices are more transparent than commercial entities. US CLOUD Act technically applies but nonprofit status reduces commercial surveillance risk significantly.
3
/10
Unlock the complete assessment
Run a free assessment to access the full AI tool risk analysis.
Updated July 2026 • AI-assisted research • Reviewed by Verax • Report an issue
Reference Documentation
Official documentation and policies referenced as part of this assessment.
Privacy Policy
https://allenai.org/privacy-policy