Sullivan & Cromwell Partnered With OpenAI on AI Tool
The law firm collaborated with OpenAI engineers to build a custom AI contract analyzer unveiled this month.
Updated on Sept. 29, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence
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Sullivan & Cromwell has unveiled an AI-powered contract analyzer developed through a direct collaboration with OpenAI. The tool, which provides specialized legal analysis, was built with the assistance of OpenAI engineering talent.
Why it matters
This partnership reflects a growing trend of elite law firms securing direct access to AI engineering resources to tailor models for specific high-stakes legal workflows. By moving beyond off-the-shelf software, firms are attempting to integrate proprietary legal logic into specialized AI environments.
The tool leverages a custom version of an OpenAI model configured specifically for legal work, developed alongside OpenAI's engineering team.
The players
Sullivan & Cromwell
A prominent Wall Street-based law firm that provides legal services for major financial institutions and global corporations.
OpenAI
A research and deployment organization focused on building large-scale artificial intelligence models and enterprise-facing AI infrastructure.
Latham & Watkins
A global law firm that maintains a large technology practice and currently participates in testing programs for enterprise AI models.
Wachtell
A boutique law firm specializing in high-stakes corporate transactions that is currently evaluating AI applications for legal work.
Skadden
A major international law firm that advises on complex legal matters and is testing new AI product configurations for legal practitioners.
The details
The collaboration allowed Sullivan & Cromwell to work directly with OpenAI engineers to tune the model for contract analysis. This tool functions within the broader framework of Astra for Law, an OpenAI initiative designed to optimize model performance for legal documentation and review. Similar testing and development efforts for Astra for Law are currently being conducted by rival firms including Latham & Watkins, Wachtell, and Skadden.
Timeline
September 2026: Sullivan & Cromwell unveiled the AI contract analyzer.
The Tech Race
This development represents a new phase for OpenAI's Astra for Law, which is being shaped through pilot deployments with several top-tier law firms. The project highlights a competitive race among major legal institutions to gain early access to proprietary model configurations.
The tool changes the workflow for legal professionals at Sullivan & Cromwell by automating the contract analysis process using custom AI. It is currently unavailable to the general public or other legal entities outside of the development group.
The takeaway
The move signifies that elite law firms now view custom AI engineering as a critical competitive advantage for contract review. Industry observers should watch for the performance benchmarks reported by early testers of Astra for Law to determine the actual time savings provided by these custom models.
Further reading
For more on how specialized AI is changing professional services, visit Artificial Intelligence.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Bloomberglaw.
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