Relativity's 2028 Server cut-off stands, but its 84% cloud figure says little about your own matters
Relativity CEO Phil Saunders confirmed on Thursday, the last day of Relativity Fest in Chicago, that new matters will be barred from Relativity Server from Jan. 1, 2028. He said nearly 84% of annual recurring revenue sat in Relativity aiR, the new name for RelativityOne, at the end of June. The company cited more than 75% when it announced the deadline in January 2025. He also ranked frontier AI labs ahead of Harvey and Legora as partners, and told resisting channel partners “we’re going to run through you.” LawNext's Bob Ambrogi reported the briefing on October 2, 2026.
Does the 2028 deadline really stand?
Yes. Saunders confirmed that from Jan. 1, 2028 no net new matter goes to Server, though he stressed the policy does not end Server itself.
Matters already on Server go unaddressed in the coverage, so treat their fate as a question for your provider. What is settled is that 2027 is the last year a new matter can start there. The friction is in the channel. Saunders blamed unaligned partners' business models, built on buying Server as a capital expense and depreciating it. He said Relativity has budgeted credits, money and effort to move them to operating expense. If your hosting partner is one of them, expect its incentives and yours to diverge before 2028.
Is 84% of recurring revenue a good measure of migration?
Not by itself. The figure covers annual recurring revenue booked to aiR, as the company defines it, not the customers, matters or data still sitting on Server.
Relativity defines the metric and Relativity measured it. The public record is a press briefing, and the coverage gives no breakdown or audit. A revenue share can rise through pricing, AI add-ons or a few large customers while many matters stay on Server. Ask whether the category was redrawn when RelativityOne became aiR.
Saunders also conceded that Relativity earns far less from aiR than from Server. He gave no figures, so it is unclear whether that means per matter, per customer or per unit of data.
Why put frontier labs ahead of Harvey and Legora?
Saunders says corporate customers run more than one frontier model, sometimes alongside Harvey or Legora, and the labs are the likeliest to endure. Anthropic, OpenAI and Google come first.
He called Harvey and Legora real, valuable companies and said talks with them continue. He framed the ranking as current rather than permanent. A year earlier he had said he was talking to both founders, and the coverage reports no integration since.
The coverage leaves out the buyer's real question: when review runs through a third-party frontier model, where does privileged material go? Nothing reported says where inference runs, who holds the keys or what no-training terms apply. Single-tenant deployments, or ones inside the firm's own AWS account under its own keys, settle that by design. Elsewhere it needs contract language. Disputes like the ROSS copyright petition we covered show that data rights remain unsettled.
What should I ask my vendor or hosting partner now?
Ask where your new matters will be hosted from Jan. 1, 2028, what migration costs under an operating-expense model, and how any frontier-model AI handles privileged data.
Get the migration plan in writing, including whether Relativity's partner credits reach you. Ask how the aiR revenue share is defined and whether it covers more than hosting. For any frontier-model feature, put the model, processing location, retention and no-training terms in the contract. Also ask how chain of custody and source citations survive a move.
Frequently asked questions
Does the policy shut down Relativity Server?
Not according to Saunders, who said the aim is that no net new matter goes to Server from Jan. 1, 2028.
Is Relativity partnering with Harvey or Legora?
Talks continue, but the stated priority is Anthropic, OpenAI and Google. The coverage reports no announced integration.
Sources: LawNext (Bob Ambrogi).
The original report
Relativity is holding firm on its plan to require that all new matters be hosted in the cloud beginning Jan. 1, 2028, CEO Phil Saunders said Thursday, and he had a blunt message for partners who are not on board: “Know we’re going to run through you.” Saunders made the comments during a media briefing…
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