Technology

One Of The Best Generative AI Products In Legal Rumored To Be In Acquisition Talks Worth 'Hundreds Of Millions'

Someone is reportedly talking to Casetext. But who?

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AI Robot GettyImages-917581126-300×200Apparently showing your product on national television has its advantages.  We’re only a couple of months removed from Casetext taking its latest offering — the generative AI-driven CoCounsel — on Morning Joe, bringing legal technology to the attention of mainstream media for the first time since Leslie Templeton Bankersbox previewed his latest invention at the 1880 World’s Fair.

All right, the second part didn’t happen so Casetext probably did earn the first mainstream accolades for its product.

Today, Business Insider reports that Casetext’s position at the forefront of the scramble to meaningfully integrate generative AI into the legal industry workflow has the company embroiled in acquisition talks:

With the recent flood of AI startups, many are wondering how long elevated investor interest in the hot space can last and whether a wave of M&A is in store for the frothy industry.

This hypothesis may have found its first example in Casetext, a buzzy legal generative AI startup that is in talks to be acquired, according to people familiar with the situation.

A potential deal could value the company in the hundreds millions of dollars, two of these people said. A deal is not guaranteed and could end up not happening.

Hot and frothy? Is this a Penthouse letter?

All right, putting the rhetorical choices aside, this makes a lot of sense. Every legal tech company is laser-focused — if only for marketing purposes — on selling its generative AI capabilities. Most of those pitches involve promising that something cool is probably going to be available… sometime… maybe. The players with a ready to rumble product are fewer and farther between.

Casetext’s CoCounsel is much more refined than the industry standard and is already a hot commodity, having raised millions from tech savvy venture capital firms. But possible acquisitions raise the stakes considerably.

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Who could pull this off?

A possible public company buyer is Thomson Reuters, which owns legal research platform Westlaw, according to two people familiar with the deal who were not authorized to speak publicly. All of the sources asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak publicly. Thomson Reuters did not respond to a request for comment.

This is the fourth paragraph of the Insider story and exactly zero other companies are mentioned. Let’s go ahead and cautiously assume that whoever is tipping off Insider has reason to believe Thomson Reuters is on the phone.

Thomson Reuters announced earlier this week that it intends to invest “more than $100 million” in generative AI capabilities this year. This hypothetical deal would certainly cross that threshold.

Insider admits that the deal might not happen at all. However even if this doesn’t materialize, this is the sort of report that breaks the taboo. Once the market knows that there’s a possibility of acquiring this technology, then folks start asking about acquiring this technology.

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One way or the other, this story isn’t over.

Exclusive: Buzzy legal generative AI startup Casetext is in talks to be acquired [Business Insider]

Earlier: Legal AI Knows What It Doesn’t Know Which Makes It Most Intelligent Artificial Intelligence Of All

HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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