OpenAI targets the legal market with AI built for lawyers
The AI race is moving into the courtroom, and law firms are the prize.
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- OpenAI launched Astra for Law to help legal teams research, draft advice, and build custom tools.
- The product combines GPT-6 Astra with US case law, statutes, regulations, and legal writing instructions.
- Legal AI vendors and software providers, including Harvey, Clio, Relativity, and Thomson Reuters, can integrate with it.
- OpenAI says selected law firms will get early access with protections for confidential client work.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
OpenAI on Thursday released a legal-industry-focused version of its latest AI technology, GPT-6 Astra, that it said is designed to help law firms and legal software providers conduct research, draft advice, and build custom applications for lawyers.
The launch of Astra for Law marks the latest push by the top AI labs into the legal market, where technology companies are racing to capture business from law firms and legal departments.
Google last month expanded its Gemini Enterprise offerings for legal professionals, and Anthropic, since January, has released tools for lawyers using its Claude AI assistant.
OpenAI said its new product combines its Astra model with an index of US case law, statutes, regulations, and other legal materials, along with specialized instructions for legal analysis and writing.
The company said legal AI vendors, including Harvey and Legora, will be able to build products on Astra for Law, and the platform will include integrations with software providers such as Relativity, Clio, Intapp, and Thomson Reuters.
Thomson Reuters, which owns Reuters and the Westlaw legal research database, launched an AI model last month called Thomson 1.0 that is trained on its legal research content and built for professional work. It said the model is built on open-source technology and draws on decades of its own "authoritative" legal content.
OpenAI said "selected" law firms will gain access to its product initially through a special program that includes protections for confidential client work.
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The company said it has worked with firms including Sullivan & Cromwell, Ropes & Gray, Cooley, Latham & Watkins, and Wachtell Lipton on testing and developing legal AI applications.
Cybernews previously reported on an AI-assisted law firm claiming its first court victory in England. Even though a human presented the case, it was AI that did all the pretrial work.
The GPT-6 Astra edition for lawyers also comes amid lawyers increasingly being caught using AI when preparing for court. For instance, one British immigration barrister got caught using a ChatGPT-like AI to do his work for a tribunal hearing. And he is far from the only one to do so.