The Christian nonprofit Holy Sexuality has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the tech company of religious discrimination for denying it access to a nonprofit discount because of its beliefs.
Represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), Holy Sexuality alleges that OpenAI’s policies violate California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, which prohibits businesses from discriminating against customers based on religion. The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of California and also names Goodstack, the third-party software company used to verify nonprofit status, as a defendant.
“This is a lawsuit that is purely focused on corporate discrimination against a nonprofit because of its religious character,” said ADF Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Ryan Bangert in a statement to 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, which promotes Christian teachings on marriage and sexuality, applied for a 20 percent ChatGPT discount offered to nonprofit organizations. According to the lawsuit, OpenAI rejected the application because the organization is religious.
Dr. Christopher Yuan, the group’s founder, said the rejection reflects a broader hostility toward religious organizations in corporate America.
“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.”
OpenAI’s website states that its nonprofit discount is not available to “academic, medical, religious, or governmental institutions.” It does not offer a detailed explanation for the exclusion of religious nonprofits.
Bangert called the policy “brazen” religious discrimination, and the lawsuit is seeking a court order declaring it unlawful and preventing OpenAI from enforcing it.
