Apple isn’t abandoning AI-powered health guidance, but it’s likely holding back until the tech is useful enough to deliver real value.

Alphabet subsidiary Verily is launching a free health app offering personalized guidance from clinicians. The Verily Me app will also have an AI agent to answer people’s health questions based on their medical records. Verily’s competitive advantage over bigger companies with brand-name is that it has clinician partners and access to some medical record data. The company should leverage its network of doctors to endorse Verily Me to their patients, using real-world examples to demonstrate the benefit of combining a person’s health history with a medical expert’s view for individualized guidance.

Google will soon unveil an AI-powered personal health coach for the Fitbit app. Powered by Gemini, the health coach will be available to Fitbit Premium subscribers. Google will roll out a preview in October with the latest Fitbit trackers, Fitbit smartwatches, and Pixel Watches. Our take: The AI arms race has hit the health app and wearables space, and Google/Fitbit beat rivals to the punch with an AI personalized health coach. Highly customized health recommendations will be a must-have in the next iteration of digital health tools. Players in this space must ensure their AI-delivered guidance is reliable, while not turning off consumers with pricey subscription requirements.

The news: During a Congressional subcommittee hearing, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. laid out his vision for all Americans to use a wearable with health-tracking capabilities within four years. Our take: Marketers should use Kennedy’s enthusiasm for wearables to their advantage. They should get out in front of the government’s ad campaign by developing their own promotions that inform consumers of wearables’ evolved health-tracking features beyond just counting calories and steps. They could target people who aren’t as familiar or have never used a health wearable due to price concerns or lack of tech-savviness.

Wellness is becoming more digital, personalized, and consumer driven, with technology playing a central role in health management, fitness, and self-care.

US wearables forecast 2025: Health and wellness features are driving consumer adoption of wearables. AI-powered capabilities could be next. But doctors aren’t as enthusiastic about relying on health data in their practice—yet.

Fitbit smartwatches, website cut as Google favors Pixel Watch: Google phases out Versa and Sense to promote its costlier Pixel Watch, sidelining Fitbit’s better battery life and affordability.

Consumers are increasingly becoming more comfortable with technology, and the usage of health apps and wearables is becoming more prevalent. Explore how consumers are using technology to monitor their health and wellness, and learn more about the market potential.

Consumer device and behavior trends are affecting payment providers’ strategies across retail, P2P, B2B, disbursement, and cross-border channels. Here’s what that means for the payments ecosystem.

More than a quarter of the US population wears a connected device, including a growing number of older consumers who are interested in health and fitness tracking.

Sweatcoin leads US mobile health apps in traffic, with 15.0 million unique visitors in August. Fitbit and MyChart rank No. 2 and No. 3, with 12.5 million and 12.1 million unique visitors, respectively.

Smartwatches and fitness trackers face slump: Rising inflation, economic uncertainty, and slowing innovation are ending pandemic-era hyper-growth as the segment matures.

We detail how YouTube, Search, and Fitbit are tackling health literacy and information as social determinants of health.

Researchers are using NIH funding to see if Apple Watch app algorithm can prevent strokes. We wonder if doctors will trust the data.

AVs have surveillance potential: Chinese officials’ recent restrictions on Teslas are just a fraction of more widespread concerns about vehicle digital privacy. Regulators and automakers should preemptively take action.

With wearables becoming more sophisticated and widespread, how should marketers and brands include them in their strategies? This report looks at where the wearables market is headed.

Oura Ring Gen 3 hit the market—we stack it up against Fitbit Versa 3: We tried it and think it needs better software and more features to compete against popular health-tracking wearables.

The remote patient monitoring market is surging, with the number of US users doubling between 2020 and 2025. Consumers, healthcare providers, payers, and pharma companies are all investing in the technology and programs to improve care and lower cost.

See which health stats wearable users track