Slack API Terms Update Restricts Data Exports and LLM Usage

Welcome to the Cloud Wars Minute — your daily cloud news and
commentary show. Each episode provides insights and perspectives
around the “reimagination machine” that is the cloud.


In today’s Cloud Wars Minute, I dive into Slack’s bold move to
restrict API access to bulk data exports, effectively blocking
the use of its platform data for LLM training and signaling a
strategic pivot toward proprietary AI control and heightened data
security


 


Highlights


00:03 — Salesforce has changed the API Terms of
Service for Slack, which will stop companies from using LLMs to
ingest data from the platform. Ultimately, the new policy
prohibits the bulk export of Slack data via the API and confirms
that data access through Slack APIs cannot be used for LLM
training.


00:21 — From now on, companies will have to use
Slack’s new real-time search API. In a blog post by the Slack
developer team, the company states that this new API eliminates
the need for large data exports from Slack, keeping customer data
secure while maintaining support for key use cases like
permission-based search.


00:56 — Now, while Salesforce and Slack say the
focus is on security, there is another angle being discussed,
that this move encourages a shift towards proprietary
technologies. It’s difficult to pinpoint this trend. On one hand,
we see a push for interoperability across the industry, while on
the other, Slack’s announcement on the real-time research API
coincided with support for the Model Context Protocol.


01:25 — Data is still the currency that drives
AI and sharing it recklessly with any LLM that requires access
can be counterproductive from a business standpoint. Companies
like Salesforce don’t want to be liable for data used by
third-party applications, and none of the major tech companies
want to stifle innovation with overly restrictive policies.


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