BRASILIA, June 10 (Reuters) - Brazil's government is

hiring OpenAI to expedite the screening and analysis of

thousands of lawsuits using artificial intelligence (AI), trying

to avoid costly court losses that have weighed on the federal

budget.

The AI service will flag to government the need to act on

lawsuits before final decisions, mapping trends and potential

action areas for the solicitor general's office (AGU).

AGU told Reuters that Microsoft ( MSFT ) would provide the

artificial intelligence services from ChatGPT creator OpenAI

through its Azure cloud-computing platform. It did not say how

much Brazil will pay for the services.

Court-ordered debt payments have consumed a growing share of

Brazil's federal budget. The government estimated it would spend

70.7 billion reais ($13.2 billion) next year on judicial

decisions where it can no longer appeal. The figure does not

include small-value claims, which historically amount to around

30 billion reais annually.

The combined amount of over 100 billion reais represents a

sharp increase from 37.3 billion reais in 2015. It is equivalent

to about 1% of gross domestic product, or 15% more than the

government expects to spend on unemployment insurance and wage

bonuses to low-income workers next year.

AGU did not provide a reason for Brazil's rising court

costs.

AGU said the AI project would not replace the work of its

members and employees. "It will help them gain efficiency and

accuracy, with all activities fully supervised by humans," it

said.

The Planning Ministry in March released 25 million reais in

supplementary credits for AGU, to cover initiatives that include

implementing strategic information technology projects.

($1 = 5.3577 reais)