OpenAI purchases Torch in $100 million deal to enhance medical AI capabilities

OpenAI has announced the acquisition of Torch, a small startup focused on centralizing healthcare data for artificial intelligence applications. Reports indicate the transaction was valued at approximately $100 million in equity. The four-member Torch team will join OpenAI to integrate their technology into the newly established ChatGPT Health service, which is designed to assist users in analyzing and managing personal medical information.

Torch developed a platform that aggregates health data from diverse sources, including clinical records, laboratory results, wearable device metrics, and consumer wellness portals. The founders described their technology as a "medical memory for AI," creating a unified context engine from previously fragmented records. This acquisition provides OpenAI with a foundational framework for organizing longitudinal patient data within its generative AI ecosystem.

The founders of Torch previously worked together at Forward Health, a startup known for developing AI-driven medical clinics that ceased operations in late 2024. While Forward Health struggled to maintain its business model despite significant venture funding, the Torch team's transition to OpenAI represents a strategic acqui-hire. The move signals OpenAI’s intent to compete directly in the healthcare sector by providing tools that can interpret complex, multi-source medical histories.

Recently, OpenAI announced the launch of ChatGPT Health, a new feature designed to provide users with a dedicated space to discuss health-related topics with the AI, the company said on Wednesday.

OpenAI stated that people already use ChatGPT extensively to seek information on medical and wellness issues, with more than 230 million users asking health-related questions on the platform every week. The new ChatGPT Health feature separates these conversations from users’ regular chats, ensuring that personal health context does not surface in standard interactions with the chatbot.

The company informed that if users initiate health-related discussions outside the Health section, the AI will prompt them to move the conversation into the dedicated Health space. Within ChatGPT Health, the AI may still draw on relevant context from a user’s broader interactions. For instance, if a user has previously discussed marathon training in standard chats, the AI would recognise them as a runner when discussing fitness goals within Health.

ChatGPT Health will also be able to integrate with personal information and medical or wellness data from third-party applications such as Apple Health, Function and MyFitnessPal, OpenAI said. The company added that conversations held within the Health feature will not be used to train its AI models.