EXCLUSIVE: Christian Group Accuses OpenAI Of ‘Brazen’ Religious Discrimination

A Christian organization on Wednesday filed a lawsuit alleging OpenAI discriminated against it on religious grounds.

The suit, filed by the group Holy Sexuality, accuses the California-based tech company of denying its application for a nonprofit discount because of its Christian beliefs. Represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, Holy Sexuality says that OpenAI’s policies violate California law, which prevents businesses from treating customers differently based on their religion. 

“This is a lawsuit that is purely focused on corporate discrimination against a nonprofit because of its religious character,” Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Ryan Bangert told The Daily Wire. “The idea that corporations would discriminate against their customers solely because of their customers’ religious faith is really troubling, and in this case, it violates a California state law.”

Holy Sexuality is a Christian organization that promotes biblical views on marriage and sexuality. Its founder, Dr. Christopher Yuan, says that he applied for the 20% ChatGPT discount offered by OpenAI to nonprofits, but was told his organization didn’t qualify because it was religious.

“Our nation was founded on the principle of the free exercise of religion—a cornerstone of our democracy,” Yuan said. “Yet some corporations, emboldened by intersectional ideology and anti-Christian sentiment, choose to unlawfully discriminate based solely on religion. This must stop.”

Goodstack — a software company that works with OpenAI to verify groups’ nonprofit status — is named alongside OpenAI. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, says that the two tech companies violated California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, which says that businesses treat all customers equally regardless of their religious beliefs. 

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On its website, OpenAI notes that religious organizations do not qualify for its nonprofit discount, though it doesn’t explain why.

“Nonprofit discounts are available to eligible nonprofits based anywhere in the world. At this time, academic, medical, religious, or governmental institutions are not eligible for OpenAI for Nonprofits,” OpenAI says.

Bangert says that this policy is a “brazen” example of religious discrimination.

“This categorical denial, OpenAI’s published policy, and Goodstack’s enforcement of that policy are invidious religious discrimination,” the suit says. “People of faith aren’t second-class citizens in California, and tech companies cannot provide lesser services to customers simply because they are religious.”

The suit asks a judge to declare that the tech companies violated the Unruh Civil Rights Act, that OpenAI’s denial of a religious organization’s nonprofit status violates California law, and to issue an injunction blocking OpenAI from enforcing its policy toward religious organizations.

Holy Sexuality won a similar victory last month after it challenged software company Asana over a policy it had in place denying discounts to religious organizations. Asana agreed to offer Holy Sexuality the same 50% discount it gives to other nonprofits after a lawsuit from the Alliance Defending Freedom was filed.