VSCO says users' photos won't train generative AI, but public posts can still train its search tools
VSCO's updated standards bar generative AI training on public and private posts from free and paid users. Public posts can still train non-generative tools like search and editing, and the policy cannot cover copies of your work made elsewhere.
VSCO has put a sentence in writing that most photo platforms avoid: your photos will not train models built to generate new images, video or text. If you post a portfolio or reference work anywhere, that precision is the point, because a platform promise only protects you as far as its wording reaches.
The updated Creator Content Standards, announced Nov 10 in a letter from CEO Eric Wittman, cover public and private posts from paid members and free accounts alike. VSCO also says the outside AI companies powering its features have agreed not to train generative models on what users upload. The change follows criticism in May, when its Terms of Use read like a license to train AI on user content.
The line is drawn carefully. VSCO still uses machine learning, and public posts can train what it calls non-generative tools, such as search, recommendations, labels, moderation and editing features. Private posts stay out of that too, and so does public work from users VSCO knows are under 18.
Our take: a written definition of generative use beats a vague reassurance, and it gives creators something specific to hold the company to. It covers what VSCO does with your work, not copies taken from elsewhere on the web, so treat it as a floor rather than a shield.
Source: VSCO Creator Content Standards; CEO letter via PetaPixel, Nov 10, 2026.
