Template: A One-Page AI Acceptable Use Policy Your Employees Will Actually Read

Why one page?

Because the goal of an AI policy isn't to be comprehensive. It's to change behavior. Employees need to know five things: what tools they can use, what they can't put in them, what they're responsible for, when to disclose AI use, and who to ask. Everything else can live in a longer standard that legal and IT maintain.

Two 2026 developments make this more urgent:

• Privilege risk. In United States v. Heppner (S.D.N.Y. 2026), a federal court held that a person's exchanges with a consumer AI chatbot about his legal situation were not protected by attorney-client privilege or work product.
• Transparency rules. The EU AI Act's Article 50 transparency obligations, covering disclosure of AI interactions and AI-generated content, have applied since August 2, 2026.

How to customize this template

1. Replace everything in [brackets].
2. List your actual approved tools. Specific beats generic.
3. Have legal, IT/security, HR, and privacy sign off.
4. Publish it where people work (intranet, Slack or Teams, onboarding), not just in the policy library.
5. Review it every six months. AI changes faster than annual policy cycles.

[Company Name] AI Acceptable Use Policy

Effective: [Date] · Owner: [Legal / IT] · Questions: [channel or email]

Why this exists

AI tools can make us faster and better. They can also leak confidential information, create legal risk, and produce confident-sounding mistakes. This policy helps you use AI well.

1. Use approved tools for company work

Use only the AI tools on the [Approved AI Tools list, link] for company work. These have been reviewed for security and have contract terms that protect our data. Want something new? Request it through [intake link]. Most requests are reviewed within [X] business days.

Personal or free versions of AI tools are not approved for company data, even if the company pays for the enterprise version of the same product.

2. Never put these into any unapproved AI tool

• Customer, employee, or personal data
• Confidential business information (financials, strategy, pricing, deal terms, source code)
• Anything about a legal matter: disputes, investigations, complaints, regulatory inquiries, or communications with our lawyers
• Passwords, keys, or security information

Legal matters are special. Conversations with public AI tools may not be protected by attorney-client privilege and could be used as evidence. If you have a legal question, ask [Legal intake link].

3. You own the output

AI can be wrong, biased, or out of date. Before you use AI output:

• Check facts, figures, and citations
• Review it the same way you would a colleague's first draft
• Don't let AI make final decisions about people (hiring, performance, termination) without human review and HR approval

4. Be transparent

• Tell people when they're interacting with an AI system (for example, a customer-facing chatbot)
• Label AI-generated images, audio, or video used externally, following [Marketing/Comms guidance]
• Don't use AI to impersonate a real person

5. Meetings and recordings

Don't use AI notetakers in HR, legal, investigation, board, or performance meetings unless Legal approves. Always tell participants when a meeting is being recorded or transcribed.

6. Ask when unsure

If you're not sure whether something is allowed, ask [channel] before you use it. Asking is always faster than cleaning up.

Violations may result in loss of tool access and disciplinary action consistent with [HR policy].

Rollout checklist

• ☐ Approved tools list published and linked
• ☐ Intake path for new tool requests live
• ☐ Legal question intake path live
• ☐ Five-minute training or video recorded
• ☐ Policy pinned in Slack or Teams
• ☐ Added to onboarding
• ☐ Six-month review date on the calendar

The bottom line

A short policy that people read beats a long one they don't. Pair it with an approved, enterprise-grade AI option and an easy way to ask legal questions, and you'll cut shadow AI more effectively than any prohibition. Find enterprise AI legal assistants and intake tools in the CorporateLegal.tech directory.

This template is a starting point, not legal advice. Adapt it to your jurisdictions, industry, and existing policies.