WeTransfer New ToS Cause an Uproar: Using Your Files to Train AI? Company Responds

If you have a WeTransfer account, you recently received an email stating that the terms and conditions have changed. If you just deleted the email and carried on with your life like me, you’re in for a shock. As it turns out, WeTransfer’s new ToS give them “perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable license to use your Content.” They could use your transfers for “operating, developing, commercializing, and improving the Service or new technologies or services, including to improve performance of machine learning models that enhance our content moderation process.”

Wait, what? Are they training AI models on our images?! This has sparked tremendous outrage among users, but WeTransfer was quick to update the updated Terms and Conditions. So, let’s see how it all started and unfolded.

WeTransfer Terms and Conditions’ Controversial Update

I got the email from WeTransfer on July 13, 2025. As I mentioned, I didn’t exactly pay too much attention to it. But I should ha )and will from now on). Section 6.3 of the WeTransfer Terms and Conditions update deals with the license to WeTransfer. Here’s what it originally read (the emphasis is ours):

“In order to allow us to operate, provide you with, and improve the Service and our technologies (and to develop new ones), we must obtain from you certain rights related to Content that is covered by intellectual property rights. You hereby grant us a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable license to use your Content for the purposes of operating, developing, commercializing, and improving the Service or new technologies or services, including to improve performance of machine learning models that enhance our content moderation process, in accordance with the Privacy & Cookie Policy. Such license includes the right to reproduce, distribute, modify, prepare derivative works based upon, broadcast, communicate to the public, publicly display, and perform Content. You will not be entitled to compensation for any use of Content by us under these Terms.“

Not surprisingly, this raised major concerns among WeTransfer users. As photographers, I believe many of us use their services as the site is really convenient, intuitive, and easy to use. I personally love it and I was in shock to read this. And also, can we please slow down with the machine learning models in everything?!

It wasn’t long before the internet was on fire and the news of the update was everywhere. Photographers and other creatives were furious, and how could they not be? However, WeTransfer has changed the section 6.3 to read something else now and issued a clarification of the update.

The “Updated Update”

In a blog post from July 15, 2025, WeTransfer writes that a recent update to their Terms of Service “may have raised some concerns.” They wanted to “address these concerns, share an update, and clarify what this really means for you.

The company states that users retain full ownership of their content. As noted in section 6.2 of the Terms, “We do not claim any ownership rights to the Content. You or your licensors own and retain all right, title, and interest, including all intellectual property rights, in and to the Content.” The license mentioned in section 6.3 simply grants WeTransfer permission to operate and improve its services, and it doesn’t affect user ownership.

The confusion mainly stemmed from a reference to machine learning, which has since been removed. WeTransfer confirmed that they “do not use machine learning or any form of AI to process content shared via WeTransfer.” The company had initially included the line to cover the possibility of using AI for content moderation in the future. However, since that feature hasn’t been built or used, they decided to take it out. Additionally, WeTransfer emphasized that the licensing terms have not changed in substance from earlier versions. The license still allows the platform to “operate, develop, and improve the Service” as described in its Privacy & Cookie Policy. WeTransfer reassures us that they don’t sell user content or use it to train AI models.

Here’s what Section 6.3 reads now:

In order to allow us to operate, provide you with, and improve the Service and our technologies, we must obtain from you certain rights related to Content that is covered by intellectual property rights. You hereby grant us a royalty-free license to use your Content for the purposes of operating, developing, and improving the Service, all in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy.

So, What Have We Learned?

If nothing else, this whole mess is a good reminder to actually read those boring Terms and Conditions. I know, nobody wants to. But when companies like WeTransfer slip in language that sounds like they’re training AI on your content, it’s worth paying attention.

To their credit, they did walk it back pretty quickly. But the fact that it made it in there at all shows how easy it is for things to go sideways when legal language meets creative work. I love WeTransfer – it’s fast, simple, and I use it all the time. But I also want to trust that my photos aren’t being quietly fed into a machine learning system I didn’t agree to.

So yeah, I’ll be reading the fine print from now on. Even if it’s just to save myself an unpleasant surprise.

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