What happens to my data if the AI vendor shuts down? It depends on where the software and the data live.
Short answer. It depends on where the software and the data live. With a cloud service the vendor holds your data and runs the software, so a shutdown can end access within days: Humane gave owners of its AI Pin ten days’ notice in February 2025 before the devices stopped connecting to its servers, and OpenAI’s services agreement says it deletes customer content within thirty days of termination unless the law requires otherwise. With local AI the files and the models sit on your hardware: open-weight models under Apache 2.0 carry a perpetual, irrevocable licence, so they keep working, though support and updates stop. Ask every vendor for export, deletion and continuity terms in writing.
01
What can disappear
What
Cloud AI service
Local or on-premise AI
Your data
Held by the vendor. OpenAI’s services agreement deletes customer content within 30 days of termination unless the law requires it to be kept; Business admins can export conversations while the service runs
On your hardware, so you keep it
The software
Stops when the service stops. Humane’s AI Pin stopped connecting to its servers on 28 February 2025, ten days after the announcement
Keeps running if it does not depend on the vendor’s servers
The model
Hosted, so you never hold the weights
Open weights stay on your machine. Apache 2.0 grants a perpetual, irrevocable copyright licence; Llama 3.3 lets Meta terminate for breach; Gemma 3’s terms let Google restrict violating use remotely or otherwise
Support and updates
Stop
Stop, unless someone else takes them over
02
What a failed product teaches
Humane announced on 18 February 2025 that its AI Pin devices would stop connecting to its servers at noon Pacific time on 28 February, ending calls, messaging and AI queries. Owners were told to transfer their data before then, HP paid US$116 million for most of Humane’s assets, and only buyers within the previous 90 days could get refunds, according to TechCrunch. The lesson is general: a device whose usefulness depends on the vendor’s cloud has the lifespan of the vendor.
03
What the law adds
Under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, a data fiduciary must erase personal data once its purpose is served unless retention is needed for compliance with a law, and must cause its data processor to erase personal data made available to it (section 8(7)). It also remains responsible for processing done on its behalf by a processor (section 8(1)). A vendor contract should therefore say how data is returned and how deletion is confirmed if the vendor closes. This is general information, not legal advice.
04
A contract checklist
Export: which formats, how quickly, and whether you can read them without the vendor’s software.
Deletion: a stated period, and written confirmation that it has happened, including at sub-processors.
Notice: how long before a shutdown you must be told.
Licence: whether the right to keep using the software is perpetual, and what you can do with it if the vendor disappears.
Continuity: whether an escrow or successor arrangement exists for software you cannot do without.
Location: where data and backups are held while you wait for deletion.
05
Where ANVE fits
ANVE’s published position is that if ANVEAI shuts down, the box keeps working. Every order includes a perpetual licence for the software delivered with the unit, there is no remote kill switch, and everything sits in one database on the box. ANVEAI installs updates on site today, signed update packages applied offline by USB are not on ANVE yet, and ANVE does not update itself over the internet. ANVE is pre-release and has no customers yet, so ask for these terms in writing before a paid pilot, along with the backup design and deletion details, which the security page does not cover.
06
Questions people ask
Can I get my data out of ChatGPT?
On ChatGPT Business, workspace admins can view, access, export and delete members’ conversations. OpenAI’s help pages also describe a data export request for eligible accounts. Do it before you need it.
Does an open-weight model stop working if its maker disappears?
No. The weights are files on your machine, and an Apache 2.0 licence is perpetual and irrevocable. A licence with termination rights, such as Llama 3.3’s, lets Meta end it for breach, not because a company closes.
What if the box itself fails?
That is a hardware and backup question rather than a vendor-continuity one. Ask how backups work and how a replacement is restored. For ANVE, the backup design is something to get in writing before a paid pilot.
Who is responsible for the data if the vendor disappears?
The office remains the data fiduciary under the DPDP Act (section 8(1)), and should make sure a vendor acting as its processor is contractually bound to erase data (section 8(7)(b)). This is general information, not legal advice.
07
What is not real yet
No sealed ANVE unit exists; every image of the appliance on this site is a labelled render. The software runs today on a development machine. No customers yet, no certifications, no delivery date, and the final price is not announced.
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