The news: OpenAI may build its own consumer health tools, such as a personal health assistant or a product that aggregates users’ health data, per a Business Insider report.

OpenAI has several partnerships with healthcare and pharma companies, but hasn’t developed a consumer health app. However, the AI giant recently hired a former Instagram executive as VP of health products to develop tools for consumers and doctors, per prior BI reporting.

The opportunity: Nearly 89 million US consumers use ChatGPT, per EMARKETER forecasts, and many turn to the tech for answers to health questions. OpenAI may see an opportunity to build a “health coach” tool that incorporates users’ medical data and history.

OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman called out health prompts as a top consumer case when GPT-5 was released in August. This could include allowing users to ask ChatGPT about new symptoms or a diagnosis, or even developing a customized plan for certain health goals, like losing weight. OpenAI states that ChatGPT does not replace a medical professional, but it can be a useful partner to help people better understand their health.

The problem: Developing a consumer health product will prove challenging, especially if it’s a solution that needs access to a patient's medical record data.

Microsoft and Google attempted to build personal health records, but both shut down years ago. That was primarily due to low adoption, privacy concerns, and poor integration with health systems and electronic health record platforms. More recently, Apple rolled out a Health Records feature on its iPhone health app, but uptake has been limited due to a lack of widespread healthcare provider participation, per BI.

Implications for health tech companies: A range of healthcare and tech companies—from Verily to wearable makers like Oura and Fitbit—are developing AI-powered health coaches and assistant tools.

A comparable OpenAI product could immediately threaten existing solutions due to its massive scale, but it may face the same patient-data access hurdles as past entrants. Ultimately, makers of health-tracking devices and some digital health companies could be strong partners for OpenAI in creating a product that combines advanced AI with user health data.