Is Snowflake Cortex AI HIPAA compliant?
Only on the right plan. Snowflake signs a Business Associate Agreement with its customers on Business Critical / Virtual Private Snowflake (VPS). Other plans aren't covered, so keep patient data out of them. Snowflake doesn't say whether the BAA covers its AI features.
Does Snowflake Cortex AI sign a BAA?
Only on some plans or setups
Snowflake signs a BAA only for accounts on Business Critical edition or higher, the only editions it lists for PHI. Its documentation does not say whether Cortex AI features are inside that BAA, so Cortex's coverage is unknown.
Not confirmed for the AI features: Snowflake doesn’t say whether its BAA covers Cortex AI Functions (AI_COMPLETE and other LLM functions), Cortex Analyst, Cortex Search; Cortex cross-region inference; Preview AI features. Get that in writing before using them with patient data.
- Business associate
- Snowflake
- Tool
- Snowflake Cortex AI
- Plans with a BAA
- Business Critical / Virtual Private Snowflake (VPS)
- Checked
By plan
| Plan | BAA | How to get it | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business Critical / Virtual Private Snowflake (VPS) | Signs a BAA | Through sales | Snowflake's editions page lists PHI support only for Business Critical and VPS, and says a signed BAA with Snowflake must be in place before storing PHI. No self-serve signing process is published.[1] |
| Standard / Enterprise editions | No BAA | Not offered | These editions are not listed as supporting PHI. Cortex AI functions are available on every edition, but PHI support is not.[1] |
Are the AI features covered?
Vendors often sign a BAA for the core product but leave some AI features out. Here is what Snowflake says about each one.
| AI feature | Under the BAA | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Cortex AI Functions (AI_COMPLETE and other LLM functions), Cortex Analyst, Cortex SearchBusiness Critical / Virtual Private Snowflake (VPS) | Not stated | Snowflake's AI Terms say covered AI features are part of the service governed by the customer agreement, and models run inside the Snowflake service perimeter. No Snowflake page checked says whether the BAA covers Cortex or names any AI feature as HIPAA-eligible or excluded.[2],[3],[4] |
| Cortex cross-region inferenceBusiness Critical / Virtual Private Snowflake (VPS) | Not stated | When enabled, prompts can be processed in another region; Snowflake says data is not persisted there. Organizations created after March 9, 2026 default to ANY_REGION. The page does not mention HIPAA.[5] |
| Preview AI featuresBusiness Critical / Virtual Private Snowflake (VPS) | Not stated | The AI Terms place preview AI features outside their scope. No page says how the BAA treats them.[3] |
Cloud AI platforms that offer a BAA
- Azure OpenAIBAA on: Azure subscription (EA / MCA / CSP), Models sold by Azure incl. Azure OpenAISome plans only
- Cloudflare Workers AIBAA on: EnterpriseSome plans only
- Databricks AIBAA on: Enterprise tier with compliance security profile (HIPAA standard)Some plans only
- IBM watsonx.aiBAA on: watsonx.ai Runtime HIPAA-Ready planSome plans only
- SupabaseBAA on: Team / Enterprise with HIPAA add-onSome plans only
- Amazon BedrockBAA on: AWS accounts (standard AWS BAA)Signs a BAA
All BAA-ready alternatives to Snowflake Cortex AI
Compare Snowflake Cortex AI
- Databricks AI vs Snowflake Cortex AIDatabricks AI: some plans
Sources
- Snowflake editions
- Snowflake Cortex AI Functions
- Snowflake AI Terms
- Snowflake AI Trust and Safety FAQs
- Cross-region inference
A signed BAA is necessary but not sufficient for HIPAA compliance, which also depends on configuration, access controls, and your own policies. Verdicts summarize the vendor's own published terms as of the date checked; confirm with the vendor and your counsel before sending protected health information. Not legal advice.