OpenAI settles with Christian nonprofit in discrimination case

Christian nonprofit Holy Sexuality reached a favorable settlement with OpenAI in a religious discrimination lawsuit, according to a Wednesday announcement. The nonprofit sued the tech giant after it refused to grant Holy Sexuality the 20% discount on a ChatGPT subscription offered to other nonprofits, according to the legal nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom, or ADF. The company withheld the discount because Holy Sexuality, which creates video courses about Biblical perspectives on sexuality, was a religious organization, ADF said.

The nonprofit, represented by ADF, filed suit against OpenAI in May. OpenAI also denies such discounts to academic, medical, and governmental institutions, according to court documents. But Holy Sexuality argued that the denial on religious grounds violated both constitutional protections and California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act.

What are the terms of the settlement? OpenAI gave Holy Sexuality the discounted ChatGPT subscription. It also agreed to remove the language on its website that said religious institutions couldn’t receive the discount, according to ADF. It wasn’t immediately clear if other conditions or agreements were part of the settlement. OpenAI had not publicly commented on the settlement by Wednesday afternoon and WORLD was unable to reach a representative of the company.

Dig deeper: Read my report on $200M defense contracts recently offered to four big tech companies, including OpenAI.