BRASILIA, Brazil – Brazil’s government has enlisted OpenAI’s artificial intelligence (AI) technology to expedite the screening and analysis of thousands of lawsuits in an effort to mitigate costly court losses that have burdened the federal budget.
This strategic move aims to flag potential legal actions for government intervention before final judgments are rendered, mapping trends and identifying areas of focus for the solicitor general’s office (AGU).
AGU informed Reuters that Microsoft would be delivering the AI services from ChatGPT creator OpenAI through its Azure cloud-computing platform. The financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.
Court-ordered debt payments have been consuming a growing portion of Brazil’s federal budget.
The government projects spending 70.7 billion reais ($13.2 billion) next year on judicial decisions that are beyond appeal.
This figure excludes small-value claims, which historically add approximately 30 billion reais annually.
The total surpasses 100 billion reais, a significant rise from 37.3 billion reais in 2015, representing about 1pc of the country’s gross domestic product and 15% more than the planned expenditure on unemployment insurance and wage bonuses for low-income workers next year.
Despite the increasing court costs, AGU did not specify the reasons behind the surge.
However, the AI initiative is seen as a tool to enhance efficiency and accuracy in legal processes, complementing rather than replacing the work of AGU members and employees.
“It will help them gain efficiency and accuracy, with all activities fully supervised by humans,” AGU stated.
In March, the Planning Ministry allocated 25 million reais in supplementary credits to AGU for initiatives including the implementation of strategic information technology projects, underscoring the government’s commitment to leveraging technology in managing legal affairs and controlling budget expenditures.
