Britain’s Ministry of Justice just signed up to ChatGPT Enterprise

Summary

The UK’s Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has agreed to roll out ChatGPT Enterprise to around 2,500 staff for routine tasks including writing support, compliance and legal work, data and research processes, and document analysis. OpenAI is launching UK data residency on 24 October and the MoJ is reported to be the first public-sector customer to adopt that option. No contract value or detailed timelines have been released, and neither OpenAI nor the MoJ provided further specifics on quality assurance or processing arrangements.

Key Points

ChatGPT Enterprise will be deployed to about 2,500 MoJ desktops for administrative, legal and research tasks.
OpenAI is introducing UK data residency (branded as “Sovereign AI”) on 24 October; MoJ is said to be the first to use it.
No public details yet on cost, timeline or how output quality and accuracy will be managed for the rollout.
Previous government AI deployments include tools like “Humphrey” and “Consult”; Consult processed 50,000 consultation responses in two hours and matched expert groups around 83% of the time.
The broader UK government has mixed trial results with generative AI (e.g. Microsoft Copilot trials showed big time savings in some areas but poor quality in others), so outcomes may vary by use case.

Context and relevance

This is a notable signal of OpenAI cementing its footprint in the UK public sector. Data residency addresses a major barrier to adoption, but true “sovereignty” also depends on where and how processing happens and how vendors meet regulatory/security requirements. The move sits alongside other high-profile government AI trials and rollouts that promise productivity gains but have produced mixed quality and oversight trade-offs. For procurement, security teams and policy-makers, the MoJ announcement highlights both opportunity and the need for robust governance.

Why should I read this?

Because the MoJ signing up to ChatGPT Enterprise is more than a vendor win — it’s a heads-up that generative AI is being woven into routine government work. It could save time, but there are big caveats around accuracy, oversight and what “UK data residency” actually guarantees. If you work with public sector procurement, policy, legal tech or data protection, this is one to watch.

Author style

Punchy: This is a clear, pragmatic shift — OpenAI sweetens the pot with data residency and the MoJ is on board. Read the detail if you care about how AI gets operationalised in government (and who’s accountable when it goes wrong).

Source

Source: https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2025/10/24/ministry_of_justice_chatgpt/