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OpenAI’s new AI lawyer: Astra for Law could change how legal research gets done

OpenAI’s new AI lawyer: Astra for Law could change how legal research gets done

OpenAI’s Astra for Law targets legal research and drafting by combining GPT-6 Astra with US legal documents, while firms and legal-tech companies explore specialised AI applications.

Business Today Desk
Business Today Desk
  • Updated Sep 20, 2026, 6:00 AM IST
Legal overhaul
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Legal overhaul

OpenAI is taking its AI push into courtrooms and law offices with Astra for Law, a model built specifically around legal work. By combining GPT-6 Astra with US court cases, laws, regulations and legal documents, the company is targeting some of the most time-consuming tasks lawyers handle.

Research shortcut
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Research shortcut

Legal research could be one of the biggest areas of change as Astra for Law is designed to analyse legal matters and assist with document writing. Instead of starting every search from scratch, lawyers could use custom AI applications built around their firm's specific needs and workflows.

Big players
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Big players

The new model is already being positioned as infrastructure for the wider legal-tech industry, rather than simply another chatbot for lawyers. OpenAI says companies including Harvey and Legora can build products on Astra for Law, while Relativity, Clio, Intapp and Thomson Reuters could integrate it into their software.

AI courtroom
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AI courtroom

OpenAI is not entering the legal AI race alone. Thomson Reuters has launched Thomson 1.0, while Google and Anthropic have also introduced tools aimed at legal professionals. The growing competition points to a bigger shift: AI companies are increasingly building specialised systems for professional industries.