OpenAI brings GPT-6 Astra to legal industry with tools for law firms

OpenAI’s Astra for Law is designed to help legal professionals with tasks such as research, document analysis, drafting and deal review. (Express Image/OpenAI)

OpenAI, on Thursday, September 17, introduced a legal industry-focused version of its latest and most powerful model, GPT-6 Astra. The Sam Altman-led company said that the model comes with settings, tools, and context tailored for professional legal work. The model will be initially available to a handful of law firms through Trusted Access in ChatGPT and Codex.

The launch of Astra comes amid a push by top AI companies into the legal segment. OpenAI said that the new system is designed to work along with a firm’s existing expertise, methods, and professional workflows instead of replacing them entirely.

OpenAI is also positioning data protection and professional obligations as key parts of its legal offerings. According to the AI startup, its legal products are designed around lawyers’ responsibilities like protecting client confidentiality as well as exercising independent judgement. Meanwhile, its legal offering comes with zero retention for API usage, while ChatGPT Enterprise comes with an ‘eyes-off’ human review posture by default.

The tool aims to connect OpenAI’s models with those that law firms already use. The company has also highlighted partnerships with legal tech providers including Clio, DeepJudge, iManage, Intapp, Relativity and Thomson Reuters. These integrations can bring firm knowledge, case information, documents and established workflows into ChatGPT while retaining existing permissions and controls.

According to OpenAI, Astra for legal can support a wide range of legal tasks, from researching matters and analysing documents to drafting and reviewing deals. Its legal industry page also shows examples of work involving IPO, document review, deal diligence, and the use of a legal firm’s own precedents and playbooks.

The latest announcement comes as AI companies train their focus on professional services, where massive volumes of documents and repetitive knowledge-work tasks make the technology relevant. However, for law firms, the broader pitch is just not about using an AI chatbot. OpenAI seems to be aiming at making its models part of the established legal workflows by combining AI reasoning with firm-specific knowledge, specialist databases, and professional tools. At the same time, retaining lawyers wherever legal judgment is required.

Earlier this year, Anthropic too expanded Claude’s reach in the legal sector with new tools and integrations aimed at law firms and lawyers. The announcement allowed Claude users to access 12 legal practice plug-ins covering areas such as litigation, employment and commercial law. Anthropic said the tools can be deployed through its Cowork platform or embedded into law firms’ systems. The expansion comes as legal professionals increasingly adopt AI for research, drafting and document-heavy work.