Christian author and theologian Christopher “Chris” Yuan of Escondido is now 2-0 in lawsuits against San Francisco-based tech giants. The latest to fold — OpenAI — could soon be the world’s richest private company.
Said to be on the verge of a $500 billion valuation, Sam Altman’s shop will give Yuan’s nonprofit a $5-a-month discount on a ChatGPT product.
Money wasn’t the point, however.
As part of a deal that closed the case Aug. 7, OpenAI agreed to remove “religious discrimination language” from its policy and give Holy Sexuality the 20% discount for a ChatGPT subscription that it offers other nonprofits.
Attorneys for the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom on July 16 said they reached a “favorable settlement” on behalf of Christian nonprofit Holy Sexuality, run by Yuan, 55.
OpenAI didn’t respond to a series of questions.
But a rep of Yuan’s legal team — including Rancho Santa Fe attorney Robert J. Reynolds — said: “Christians and other people of faith aren’t second-class citizens in California, and tech companies can’t deny otherwise available discounts to customers simply because they’re religious.”
ADF Senior Counsel Phil Sechler, director of its Center for Free Speech, added in a statement: “OpenAI did the right thing by reversing course, agreeing to give Holy Sexuality the ChatGPT discount it offers other nonprofits, and eliminating its discriminatory policy.”
ADF sued in San Diego federal court, citing in part California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, which entitles all people in California “no matter what their . . . religion” to “full and equal” treatment from businesses.
Holy Sexuality calls itself a Christian ministry that creates educational content about biblical teachings.
“After seeing much confusion in the ongoing societal debate surrounding sexuality and gender identity, Dr. Christopher Yuan founded Holy Sexuality to provide resources for any family to understand, embrace and celebrate biblical sexuality,” said a news release.
The Holy Sexuality Project is part of the gay conversion movement — employing much-derided practices to “help” people shed LGBTQ behavior and identities.
In late February, Yuan sought to pay $20 per user instead of $25 for a ChatGPT account to translate his “holy sexuality” products into languages including Chinese and Spanish.
Twenty days later, OpenAI denied his request. His suit, filed May 21, didn’t even yield an answer from OpenAI. Less than two months later, a settlement deal was reached.
The company originally denied the discount to Holy Sexuality because it is a religious organization.
Previously, OpenAI said: “At this time, academic, medical, religious or governmental institutions are not eligible for OpenAI for Nonprofits.”
Now OpenAI says nothing about religious groups, just: “To apply for a nonprofit discount on ChatGPT Enterprise, please contact sales.”
In mid-April, ADF settled a similar lawsuit with San Francisco-based Asana Inc. — also citing Yuan as the injured party. Yuan was originally denied a 50% nonprofit discount for Asana’s project management software.
Yuan’s ministry also offers discounted licenses for its 12-lesson, 36-video package.
Early versions of his website suggested he had lowered household license costs from $200 to $20. Now the price range “$300-$500” is crossed out and $20 is listed for a two-year license thanks to “sacrificial donors.”
