A conversation with MANZ and Noxtua about digital sovereignty and its relevance for the legal system in Austria

How much of Europe is there in the future of legal work? And what does it mean when a traditional publisher like MANZ joins forces with an AI scale-up like Noxtua?We spoke with Mag. Susanne Stein-Pressl (Managing Partner, MANZ) and Dr. Leif-Nissen Lundbæk (CEO & Co-Founder, Noxtua) about MANZ-Noxtua, the new Legal AI for Austria and a building block for Europe's digital sovereignty. 

Europe in the AI race: Why does it need its own Legal AI? 

Leif-Nissen Lundbæk (Noxtua): 

Legal information is the foundation of our democracy. If we hand over this data and the systems that process it to non-European providers, we lose control over central pillars of the rule of law such as data protection, confidentiality, and transparency. 

Digital sovereignty means that Europe designs and operates its own legal infrastructures. This is not only a technical issue, but also a democratic one. 

Susanne Stein-Pressl (MANZ): 

A European provider can only act sovereignly if it retains control over its knowledge base and its ongoing maintenance. The legal sector, as a cornerstone of our European democracies with its strong national characteristics, is a particular focus here. Trust and transparency must come first, especially in this area. MANZ has stood for these values for more than 175 years. We see ourselves as a pillar of the constitutional state by providing the public with reliable and valid legal information. 

What distinguishes MANZ-Noxtua from generic AI systems? 

Leif: 

MANZ-Noxtua is not a chatbot, but a complete Legal AI system: with a sovereign infrastructure, specialized models, exclusive legal data, and its owninterface that is tailored to the specific needs of legal practitioners. The system understands legal terms, argumentation logic, and Austrian legal structures. 

Does that mean that MANZ-Noxtua is intended to replace legal work? 

Leif: 

Quite the contrary. The aim is to relieve the burden on legal professionals and automate routine tasks. It is definitely not about replacing people. The AI takes over the hard work—and people behind it gain new resources for core legal tasks. 

Susanne: 

Our products have always supported legal work, so strictly speaking, they were tools for human use. This was the case with printed books and remains so with legal research using artificial intelligence. In order to work with AI-generated results, human intelligence and expert knowledge are required at all stages of the creative process. Starting with intelligent, well-founded prompting, through to checking the AI-generated results, iterative refinement, and subsequent application in legal practice. AI naturally speeds up these steps and makes everyday work more efficient. 

What makes the partnership between the publisher and the AI company so special? 

Susanne: 

We know the working methods, wishes, and needs of Austrian legal professionals in detail. For years, we have been involving our customers in product development through focus groups, for example, under the keyword "co-creation." Our traditional proximity to the market meets Noxtua'sinnovative technological expertise. This allows us to benefit from each other. 

Leif: 

It is a symbiosis of tradition and technology. MANZ has a wealth of data that accurately reflects the Austrian legal market. Noxtua provides the platform and AI expertise to make this content intelligently usable. We work on an equal footing, with a clear focus on quality, European values, and legal precision. 

Austria is considered a demanding legal market. How is this reflected in the development of MANZ-Noxtua? 

Susanne: 

Our clients have been working for decades with databases such as RDB, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2026, and now also Genjus AI, an AI-supported legal research assistant that we launched very successfully a few months ago. Digital research expertise has therefore been well established for generations. MANZ-Noxtua, as a comprehensive Legal AI Workspace, can be seen as the next stage of evolution, where research, analysis, and document creation take place directly and conveniently in one system instead of many different ones. All this takes into account the high demands of our target group. 

Leif: 

The requirements in Austria are high, especially with regard to data protection and professional secrecy. That's why it was clear that we would set the bar very high. MANZ- Noxtua is GDPR-compliant, meets the requirements of Section 40 (3) RL-BA 2015, and runs on sovereign European infrastructure. And sovereign infrastructure here means not only that the data centers are geographically located in Europe, but also that they originate from European companies, such as IONOS. This makes us completely independent of US hyperscalers. 

How was MANZ-Noxtua developed and how is user feedback incorporated? 

Susanne: 

We were already familiar with many of the requirements from the development of Genjus AI, which we put through its paces in a months-long "early access test" involving around 4,700 lawyers. We have also been collecting feedback and requests from our customers since the market launch. As mentioned above, involving our users in product development is central to our approach, and this was naturally also the case with the development of MANZ-Noxtua. Ultimately, we want to offer the Austrian market a tool that is specifically qualified for its needs. 

Leif: 

Together with MANZ, we can develop in a consistently user-centered way. This means that we involve legal professionals in the development process from the very beginning. Every function is based on real workflows. The goal is to translate legal thinking into technology, i.e., AI that understands why an argument is conclusive, not just that it is in the text. From our point of view, this combination of in-depth AI expertise, which we bring to the table, and high-quality legal data protection plus centuries of experience in the legal system is very promising. And if you like, this collaborative alliance concept is also deeply rooted in Europe. 

So how does MANZ-Noxtua work in concrete terms? 

Leif: 

At its core, MANZ-Noxtua is a Legal AI Workspace, i.e., a platform that bundles all central tasks: 

• Legal research in natural language with access to specialist literature, case law, and legislation 

• Document analysis with automatic evaluation and matrix functions 

• Document creation – for example, briefs, contracts, or memos 

• Integration of your own documents and seamless integration into workflows 

• Full GDPR compliance and the highest security standards 

In short: MANZ-Noxtua is legal work, but at the most innovative technological level. 

How does MANZ-Noxtua differ from the major US providers? 

Susanne: 

MANZ's core competence lies in our deep understanding of legal content and in the precise, quality-assured preparation of this content for AI applications. The result of this expertise is our own knowledge database, in which we combine the know-how, structure, and context of our publishing knowledge in such a way that AI systems can use it reliably and in compliance with the law. We deliberately do not outsource this capability—a clear strategic decision. Only by retaining control over content, structure, and processing can we ensure that our data meets the high standards of Austrian law; this would not be guaranteed with other providers. We also make a clear promise to Austria's legal practitioners: MANZ content stands for reliability and quality, even in an AI-based working environment. 

Leif: 

It is a European response to a global problem. While many US models are trained with public web data, we work exclusively with curated, high-quality legal content, i.e., knowledge that has been reviewed, structured, and legally authorized. Furthermore, control over infrastructure and data remains in Europe. This is a crucial and fundamental difference. Since Microsoft's hearing before the French GC in the summer of 2025, the situation should be clear to everyone: under oath, Microsoft stated that it cannot guarantee that customer data from the EU will not be transferred to the US. Anyone who continues to use the AI infrastructure of US hyperscalers can no longer claim that they did not know this. 

After Beck-Noxtua in Germany, now MANZ-Noxtua in Austria – where is this heading? 

Leif: 

Our goal is to offer a DACH-wide service that brings together legal information from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland – while still respecting national differences. Beck-Noxtua, MANZ-Noxtua, and Swiss-Noxtua, which we are developing in parallel with Helbing Lichtenhahn Verlag, are building blocks of this European Legal AI offering. 

So a kind of "European alternative" to global legal tech platforms? 

Leif: 

Exactly. We are building a European ecosystem based on values such as data protection, transparency, and the rule of law. This is more than technology, it is digital sovereignty in action. 

How does MANZ-Noxtua fit into the European AI landscape, also in relation to competitors? 

Susanne: 

Our USP is our MANZ knowledge database, consisting of millions of verified legal documents. Our authors are among the best lawyers in the country, experts from academia and practice. This gives us a decisive advantage in the ever-growing landscape of Legal AI providers. We offer not only the technology, but also the database behind it. More than that: a database that users can rely on for content. 

Leif: 

We see ourselves as part of the European AI ecosystem. While competitors often rely on generic models, we are taking a different approach. I am convinced that we in Europe have the technological knowledge and academic depth to create specialized AI systems for Europe. Legal professionalsneed more than just a one-size-fits-all solution. 

And what does all this mean for the future of legal work in Europe? 

Susanne: 

We must confidently leverage Europe's strengths: professional expertise, quality awareness, and value orientation. Compared to large global players, we can also achieve a lot as a medium-sized company in strategic alliances. Our future lies in strong networks within Europe. MANZ-Noxtua is an important step in this direction. 

Leif: 

The future is networked, but sovereign. We are laying the foundation for European lawyers to work with modern tools without being dependent on non-European systems. 

An Austrian product with a signal effect. 

MANZ-Noxtua is not only a new Legal AI, but also a symbol of the European approach to AI development. Cooperation instead of dependence, and sovereignty instead of external control.  

If the future of law is digital, then it begins here, in Vienna and Berlin.