Qualcomm has quietly made some massive changes to Arduino’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, marking a clear departure from the platform’s founding principles.
According to Adafruit, the new policies introduce sweeping user-license provisions, broaden data collection (particularly around AI usage), and embed long-term account data retention, all while integrating user information into Qualcomm’s broader data ecosystem.
Section 7.1 grants Arduino a perpetual, irrevocable license over anything you upload. Your code, projects, forum posts, and comments all fall under this. This remains in effect even after you delete your account. Arduino retains rights to your content indefinitely.
The license is also royalty-free and sublicensable. Arduino can use your content however they want, distribute it, modify it, and even sublicense it to others.
The terms further state that users are not allowed to reverse engineer or attempt to understand how the platform works unless Arduino gives permission. Adafruit argues that this contradicts the values that made Arduino attractive to educators, researchers, and hobbyists.
The Privacy Policy states Arduino is wholly owned by Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. User data, including from minors, flows to other Qualcomm Group companies.
“Pay us money so we can rip off all your work!”
So Adafruit will stop carrying them?
What the fuck?! TO ALL USERS, ABANDON SHIP! I REPEAT…
Here’s the solution. Stop using Arduino. That’s how people power work. Then a new open alternative will pop up, and people can start using that. Ones desire to create and build, should never belong to only one brand - but a universal brand - whenever possible.
Hopefully places like Adafruit will stop stocking them. They should also post explanations for people searching directly for them.
Are RISCV microcontrollers out yet? Might be a good idea to rally around making a fully open IDE ecosystem and breakout board standard for it (maybe even make it pin compatible with the old school Arduino, surely they can’t sue for that right?)
Stupid question.
Does this apply to what you write and upload on the Arduino IDE to your boards? Or just whatever you publish on their website/ cloud?
The latter.
For now.
Please tell me ESP32 with python is still a good option or did they get bought out too?
Espressif is still just Espressif. The RP and Nordic semiconductor chips are good too, though RP is also a corporation now.
I assume RP is raspberry pi? That’s a single board computer. Arduino is a microprocessor.
Yes, the 2040 is a microcontroller.
RP 2040: https://www.seeedstudio.com/XIAO-RP2040-v1-0-p-5026.html
RP 2350: https://www.seeedstudio.com/Seeed-XIAO-RP2350-p-5944.html
Nordic Semi nRF52840, Bluetooth only board: https://www.seeedstudio.com/Seeed-XIAO-BLE-nRF52840-p-5201.html
There are a few others by this manufacturer of different chips, none quite as fast as the ESPs though:
https://wiki.seeedstudio.com/SeeedStudio_XIAO_Series_Introduction/
I’m only linking the Seeed ones because they’re high quality. They’re also the only ones I’ve found this size with built in battery chargers.
Hope that helps. Oh and as a bonus, here’s someone using the RP2040 and an OLED to turn a lego brick into a Doom machine:
Nice! Thank you.
Boycott time. Fuck these pricks and their money.
Whooooa, I had no idea Arduino sold out. I thought this was about RaspberryPi for some reason at first, but this is even worse.
The enshitifcaiton was guaranteed the second the ink touched that paper.
First it was Raspberry Pi now Arduino. Is ESP32 all that’s left?
What happened with raspberry pi?
It’s more expensive than what it is really worth years ago, among many other problems. It was a cheap and reliable programming platform when it was Raspberry Pi 1.
That’s not enshittification, that’s just a price increase. I’d hardly say it’s the same as this change to arduino
Isn’t Arduino more of a software framework and less about the chips themselves? Arduino can run on ESP32 and also on a huge array of ATmega mcus.
I don’t actually know that! I have fiddled with esp32 a bit and was disappointed when Pi’s priced out most of the hobbyist market
