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Friday, September 18, 2026

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OpenAI · Friday, September 18, 2026

OpenAI introduces Astra for Law

The File desk · Sep 18, 2026, 2:12 PM UTC

Status

Confirmed (OpenAI index post, Sept. 17, 2026)

OpenAI introduced Astra for Law on Sept. 17 — GPT-6 Astra plus a legal search index and legal-specific instructions for law firms and legal-tech builders. The company says the setup can search U.S. case law, statutes, regulations, court rules, and administrative decisions across more than 230 million URLs. On Vals AI’s Legal Research Bench, OpenAI reports the full setup passed the overall correctness check on 54.0 percent of 200 private validation questions, versus 38.7 percent for GPT-6 Astra with web search alone at the highest reasoning effort. Initial access is through a Trusted Access program; the model picker name is “GPT-6 Astra Law.” This is a domain product configuration, not a new general frontier-model launch — GPT-6 Astra itself launched Sept. 3.

OpenAI introduced Astra for Law on Sept. 17 — GPT-6 Astra plus a legal search index and legal-specific instructions for law firms and legal-tech builders.

The company says the setup can search U.S. case law, statutes, regulations, court rules, and administrative decisions across more than 230 million URLs.

On Vals AI’s Legal Research Bench, OpenAI reports the full setup passed the overall correctness check on 54.0 percent of 200 private validation questions, versus 38.7 percent for GPT-6 Astra with web search alone at the highest reasoning effort.

Initial access is through a Trusted Access program. The model picker name is “GPT-6 Astra Law.”

This is a domain product configuration, not a new general frontier-model launch. GPT-6 Astra itself launched Sept. 3.

What is still unknown or disputed

Primary sources

Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.

  1. Source 1

    Introducing Astra for Law

    OpenAI · September 17, 2026

    Today, we’re introducing Astra for Law: a new foundation for law firms and legal technology companies to build AI products and workflows around their expertise.

    https://openai.com/index/astra-for-law/

  2. Source 2

    OpenAI News (Sept. 17 listing)

    OpenAI · September 17, 2026

    Introducing Astra for Law / Company / Sep 17, 2026.

    https://openai.com/news