OpenAI launches Astra for Law with a 230-million-URL legal search index and 73 plugins

OpenAI has released Astra for Law, a configuration of its GPT-6 Astra model built for legal work. The offering pairs the model with instructions for legal analysis and writing, settings for thorough work, and a new Legal Search Index covering US case law, statutes, regulations, court rules and administrative decisions across more than 230 million URLs, with sources added daily. OpenAI draws on data from the Free Law Project, which says it covers over 99.9 percent of published US precedents. In a test OpenAI ran itself on Vals AI's Legal Research Bench, Astra for Law passed 54 percent of 200 questions, compared with 38.7 percent for GPT-6 Astra using plain web search. The company is also launching 26 partner-built plugins and 47 community plugins for legal work in ChatGPT. Partners including Thomson Reuters, Harvey, Legora and iManage connect their tools and knowledge, and OpenAI says plugins cover products such as Relativity and Clio. Law firms including Latham & Watkins, Ropes & Gray, Cooley and Sullivan & Cromwell are early adopters. Astra for Law is initially available to selected firms through a Trusted Access program in ChatGPT and Codex, with privacy controls such as zero data retention, and API access is described as coming soon so companies like Harvey and Legora can build on it. OpenAI says it will maintain the legal configuration so builders can focus on their own products. Anthropic is also expanding its presence in the legal market.