---
title: "Kagi Assistant | Ethical Stack"
url: https://ethicalstack.ai/products/kagi-assistant/
catalog_version: f6baff2119d0e9158520da7fbe4232011dac79f25bd08757436d7a1dbd593db2
---

# Kagi Assistant

Privacy-focused assistant combines multiple hosted models with optional Kagi Search and user-selected web access.

Canonical profile: https://ethicalstack.ai/products/kagi-assistant/

Scope: Kagi Assistant: cloud access. Included with Kagi subscription; plan usage limits vary. Ratings describe the stated product, company or configuration in each finding.

Published overall: 4.8; 5/6 dimensions rated.

Round the equal-weight mean of available numerical ratings to one decimal; require at least four of six for an overall score. BDS status stays outside the mean; for eligible profiles, a boycott target caps the final score at 2/10 and a pressure target subtracts one point (minimum 1). Not listed and not checked do not adjust the score.

## Energy practices

Finding: 4/10

Assessment: https://ethicalstack.ai/products/kagi-assistant/#energy

Kagi Assistant connects users to models from many providers and offers model, Quick profile, web-access, and response-instruction controls. It does not publish request-level energy, emissions, water, or electricity sourcing.

Reason: 1 + 1 reporting + 0 electricity + 2 controls = 4/10. This grade covers documented practices and transparency; it does not measure the energy or emissions of a request.

Argument: Kagi’s docs explicitly support switching models, choosing cost/speed/context-window tradeoffs, using a Quick profile, disabling web access, and requesting concise answers. These make C2 appropriate. However, the model/provider route is user-selected and no environmental footprint or electricity sourcing is reported; provider/company data cannot be generalized to all Kagi Assistant requests.

Type: conditional; confidence: medium

Scope (dimension): Kagi Assistant router across user-selected third-party models. Kagi and upstream providers do not publish an energy profile for the selected request route.

Research reviewed: 2026-10-24; evidence date: 2026-10-24

Unknowns: Upstream model/provider and region per request; request energy, water and emissions; energy used by Kagi routing/search; impact of Quick profile and disabled web access; power sourcing for chosen provider.

```json
{
  "method": "practices-transparency-v1",
  "scope": "Kagi Assistant router across user-selected third-party models. Kagi and upstream providers do not publish an energy profile for the selected request route.",
  "components": {
    "disclosure": {
      "score": 1,
      "reason": "Kagi names supported model providers and lets users change models within a thread, establishing a variable upstream boundary but no environmental quantities.",
      "sourceUrls": [
        "https://help.kagi.com/kagi/ai/assistant.html",
        "https://help.kagi.com/kagi/ai/custom-assistants.html",
        "https://help.kagi.com/kagi/ai/quick-answer.html"
      ]
    },
    "electricity": {
      "score": 0,
      "reason": "Kagi Assistant can select models across many providers; no route-specific clean-power claim or Kagi-wide AI electricity sourcing is established.",
      "sourceUrls": [
        "https://help.kagi.com/kagi/ai/assistant.html",
        "https://help.kagi.com/kagi/ai/custom-assistants.html",
        "https://help.kagi.com/kagi/ai/quick-answer.html"
      ]
    },
    "demand": {
      "score": 2,
      "reason": "Users can select models by speed/cost/context window, use the Quick profile, disable web access, and tailor response-length instructions. These are practical controls, with no measured physical savings.",
      "sourceUrls": [
        "https://help.kagi.com/kagi/ai/assistant.html",
        "https://help.kagi.com/kagi/ai/custom-assistants.html",
        "https://help.kagi.com/kagi/ai/quick-answer.html"
      ]
    }
  },
  "actualImpactMeasured": false,
  "meaning": "Documented environmental practices and transparency. Zero component points mean a reviewed evidence gap."
}
```

- [Kagi Assistant](https://help.kagi.com/kagi/ai/assistant.html) (primary; checked 2026-10-24)

- [Custom Assistants](https://help.kagi.com/kagi/ai/custom-assistants.html) (primary; checked 2026-10-24)

- [Quick Answer](https://help.kagi.com/kagi/ai/quick-answer.html) (primary; checked 2026-10-24)

## Training data

Finding: Depends on the model

Assessment: https://ethicalstack.ai/products/kagi-assistant/#training-rights

Kagi offers models from multiple providers and lets users switch models. Its promise not to train on submitted prompts concerns privacy and does not establish the training rights of each provider model.

Reason: Select the exact provider model and version; assess its own corpus disclosure and inherited model sources. This grades documented training-data safeguards, not a legal ruling.

Argument: The exact provider/model is selectable and changes within a thread, so there is no defensible universal corpus-rights score for the service. A provider-specific assessment is needed for each model.

Type: conditional; confidence: low

Scope (dimension): Kagi Assistant multi-provider model router.

Research reviewed: 2026-10-24; evidence date: not recorded

Unknowns: The chosen provider and version are required; privacy statements about prompt use do not answer the underlying pretraining-rights question.

```json
{
  "method": "training-rights-evidence-v1",
  "scope": "Kagi Assistant multi-provider model router.",
  "components": null,
  "routeDependency": "Select the exact provider model and version; assess its own corpus disclosure and inherited model sources.",
  "modelReference": null,
  "meaning": "Documented training-data rights safeguards. Low points may reflect missing evidence; they do not establish infringement."
}
```

- [Kagi Assistant](https://help.kagi.com/kagi/ai/assistant.html) (primary; checked 2026-10-24)

## Your data & privacy

Finding: 8/10

Assessment: https://ethicalstack.ai/products/kagi-assistant/#privacy

Kagi says prompts are not used to train models by Kagi or model vendors and threads delete after 24 hours inactive by default; retention is configurable.

Reason: The published no-training commitment and short default thread retention are strong controls; model/provider selection and settings still define actual handling.

Argument: The published no-training commitment and short default thread retention are strong controls; model/provider selection and settings still define actual handling.

Type: evidence; confidence: medium

Scope (dimension): Product

Research reviewed: not recorded; evidence date: not recorded

Unknowns: The published no-training commitment and short default thread retention are strong controls; model/provider selection and settings still define actual handling.

- [Kagi Assistant](https://help.kagi.com/kagi/ai/assistant.html) (primary; checked 2026-10-24)

## Openness

Finding: 4/10

Assessment: https://ethicalstack.ai/products/kagi-assistant/#openness

Kagi Assistant exposes a selectable catalog spanning proprietary and open-weight families, including OpenAI gpt-oss-120b and Mistral Large 3. Kagi hosts the assistant and does not establish that its full service can be self-hosted; each model license and provider route varies.

Reason: The model catalog includes genuinely downloadable, modifiable open-weight options, but selecting them through Kagi does not provide the local weights or make Kagi’s search, account and routing stack reproducible.

Argument: The model catalog includes genuinely downloadable, modifiable open-weight options, but selecting them through Kagi does not provide the local weights or make Kagi’s search, account and routing stack reproducible.

Type: conditional; confidence: medium

Scope (dimension): Selected configuration

Research reviewed: not recorded; evidence date: not recorded

Unknowns: The model catalog includes genuinely downloadable, modifiable open-weight options, but selecting them through Kagi does not provide the local weights or make Kagi’s search, account and routing stack reproducible.

- [Kagi Assistant](https://help.kagi.com/kagi/ai/assistant.html) (primary; checked 2026-10-24)

- [OpenAI open-weight models (gpt-oss)](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/11870455-openai-open-weight-models-gpt-oss) (primary; checked 2026-10-24)

- [Introducing Mistral 3](https://mistral.ai/news/mistral-3/) (primary; checked 2026-10-24)

## Worker protections

Finding: 1/10

Assessment: https://ethicalstack.ai/products/kagi-assistant/#labour

Kagi’s Assistant documentation lists multiple model providers and lets users configure a thread, but does not report worker conditions, pay, supplier coverage, or independent outcomes for Kagi’s own or upstream model-data labor.

Reason: 1 + 0 pay & conditions + 0 worker voice & remedy + 0 evidence & follow-through = 1/10. This grades documented worker safeguards, not a measured rate of mistreatment.

Argument: Kagi’s Assistant documentation lists multiple model providers and lets users configure a thread, but does not report worker conditions, pay, supplier coverage, or independent outcomes for Kagi’s own or upstream model-data labor. A provider’s workforce evidence cannot be assigned to all Kagi Assistant routes.

Type: argument; confidence: low

Scope (dimension): Kagi's workforce and disclosed contractors. Coverage of individual product teams may be incomplete.

Research reviewed: 2026-10-24; evidence date: not recorded

Unknowns: Worker pay, exposure and health protections, paid versus volunteer roles, vendor/subcontractor coverage, grievance routes, and independent outcome checks are not established by the reviewed kagi assistant model catalog documentation checked; model selection varies, while workforce and supplier details are not disclosed on that page.

```json
{
  "method": "worker-safeguards-evidence-v1",
  "entity": "kagi",
  "company": "Kagi",
  "scope": "Kagi's workforce and disclosed contractors. Coverage of individual product teams may be incomplete.",
  "components": {
    "conditions": {
      "score": 0,
      "reason": "No opened source reports worker pay, hours, exposure protections, contractor coverage, or worker-level outcomes for Kagi. The reviewed material is limited to Kagi Assistant model catalog documentation checked; model selection varies, while workforce and supplier details are not disclosed on that page.; its silence is an information gap, not evidence of poor conditions.",
      "sourceUrls": [
        "https://help.kagi.com/kagi/ai/assistant.html",
        "https://kagi.com/privacy"
      ]
    },
    "voice": {
      "score": 0,
      "reason": "The reviewed material for Kagi does not establish worker representation, grievance access, bargaining voice, or documented remedies. Public code contributions, customer controls, or creator rights do not demonstrate worker voice across employees and suppliers.",
      "sourceUrls": [
        "https://help.kagi.com/kagi/ai/assistant.html",
        "https://kagi.com/privacy"
      ]
    },
    "assurance": {
      "score": 0,
      "reason": "No reviewed source provides an independent audit or corroborated worker-level outcomes for Kagi’s relevant employees, contractors, and data-work suppliers. The available disclosures are company/project materials rather than independent labor verification.",
      "sourceUrls": [
        "https://help.kagi.com/kagi/ai/assistant.html",
        "https://kagi.com/privacy"
      ]
    }
  },
  "disclosureLimited": true,
  "meaning": "This grades documented worker safeguards, not a measured rate of mistreatment."
}
```

- [Kagi Assistant](https://help.kagi.com/kagi/ai/assistant.html) (primary; checked 2026-10-24)

- [Kagi Privacy Policy and service terms](https://kagi.com/privacy) (privacy-terms; checked 2026-10-24)

## Military ties

Finding: 7/10

Assessment: https://ethicalstack.ai/products/kagi-assistant/#military-contracts

Kagi Assistant can route requests to many third-party model providers; its reviewed public product and service terms disclose no Kagi-specific military-use restriction or government deployment.

Reason: 7 base + 0 safeguard adjustment = 7/10 (0 of 9 safeguard points; every 3 adds 1). No military relationship was established in the cited sources. This ranks above known defense ties without claiming a verified clean record.

Argument: Kagi’s Assistant documentation describes several third-party models and the ability to change model mid-thread. The reviewed Kagi terms/privacy material describes service operation and fair-use limits, not a military, weapons or surveillance restriction. External providers may apply separate policies depending on model choice; they are not Kagi’s own military relationship or use restrictions. No named government customer or military use was established.

Type: argument; confidence: low

Scope (dimension): Kagi's relationships and safeguards. A company relationship does not identify every product or release used.

Research reviewed: 2026-10-24; evidence date: not recorded

Unknowns: Current customer contracts, provider-specific enforcement and user-configured deployment patterns remain unknown; route-specific upstream provider policies were not separately scored as Kagi policy.

```json
{
  "method": "military-ties-priority-v2",
  "entity": "kagi",
  "company": "Kagi",
  "scope": "Kagi's relationships and safeguards. A company relationship does not identify every product or release used.",
  "components": {
    "restrictions": {
      "score": 0,
      "reason": "No Kagi-specific military, weapons or harmful-surveillance AUP found in the opened Kagi product/service materials; upstream provider rules vary by model and are not Kagi’s commitment.",
      "sourceUrls": [
        "https://help.kagi.com/kagi/ai/assistant.html",
        "https://kagi.com/privacy"
      ]
    },
    "oversight": {
      "score": 0,
      "reason": "No Kagi military-specific review, remedy or enforcement outcome is disclosed in the reviewed service terms or product page.",
      "sourceUrls": [
        "https://help.kagi.com/kagi/ai/assistant.html",
        "https://kagi.com/privacy"
      ]
    },
    "transparency": {
      "score": 0,
      "reason": "No Kagi government or defense relationship is established in the reviewed official materials.",
      "sourceUrls": [
        "https://help.kagi.com/kagi/ai/assistant.html",
        "https://kagi.com/privacy"
      ]
    }
  },
  "relationship": "not-established",
  "relationshipReason": "The bounded official review found no named military/intelligence contract or operational use for this company/project. This evidence limit is not a clean bill of health; third-party model-provider relationships and customers’ independent deployments are separate.",
  "score": 7,
  "baseScore": 7,
  "safeguardPoints": 0,
  "safeguardAdjustment": 0,
  "rawScore": 7,
  "cap": null,
  "disclosureLimited": true,
  "meaning": "Known military relationships take priority over missing safeguards. The rating does not establish the probability of an undisclosed contract."
}
```

- [Kagi Assistant](https://help.kagi.com/kagi/ai/assistant.html) (primary; checked 2026-10-24)

- [Kagi Privacy Policy and service terms](https://kagi.com/privacy) (privacy-terms; checked 2026-10-24)

## BDS targets

Finding: Not listed

Assessment: https://ethicalstack.ai/products/kagi-assistant/#israel-palestine

No named target found in the two checked BNC campaign lists.

Reason: Company name checked against the BNC consumer boycott/pressure guide and official No Tech campaign list; no named target found. This limited list check is not BDS approval and does not cover every campaign, subsidiary, supplier, or product route.

Argument: Company name checked against the BNC consumer boycott/pressure guide and official No Tech campaign list; no named target found. This limited list check is not BDS approval and does not cover every campaign, subsidiary, supplier, or product route.

Type: conditional; confidence: medium

Scope (dimension): Company record

Research reviewed: not recorded; evidence date: not recorded

Unknowns: Company name checked against the BNC consumer boycott/pressure guide and official No Tech campaign list; no named target found. This limited list check is not BDS approval and does not cover every campaign, subsidiary, supplier, or product route.

- [BNC consumer boycott and pressure guide](https://bdsmovement.net/Guide-to-BDS-Boycott) (primary; checked 2026-10-24)

- [BNC No Tech campaign](https://bdsmovement.net/no-tech-oppression-apartheid-or-genocide) (primary; checked 2026-10-24)

## Reading the evidence

- Assessments are provisional editorial judgments. Cite the profile and the underlying sources, and retain confidence, scope and unknowns.

- Unknown, not-applicable and model-dependent are different states. Missing evidence does not establish good or bad conduct.

- Company-level evidence does not establish use of a particular product or model. Account plan, model, host and route can change an assessment.

- Energy scores describe documented practices and transparency, not measured request emissions. Zero component points can mean an evidence gap.

- Published overall scores require at least four of six numerical dimensions. Preserve coverage and BDS adjustments; BDS itself is categorical.

- No named BDS target found is limited to the reviewed campaign sources and is not approval. Personalized priorities do not change the published overall score.

- Review and source-check dates describe the research, not this deployment. Fetch current primary sources when the decision requires current verification.

Methodology: https://ethicalstack.ai/methodology/