Whoop will offer advanced lab testing to more non-members, risking a low-margin standalone business if they don’t convert to wearable customers.

GLP-1s are creating a new consumer economy that reaches beyond healthcare. As treatment becomes easier to access, brands must balance growth opportunities with misinformation, fragmented support, and rising expectations for lifestyle services.

Wearables are shifting from fitness trackers to connected healthcare platforms. The value of AI, clinician access, and health data integration is expanding, as high costs risk excluding consumers who need these tools the most.

Reaching patients through insurers and providers could unlock wearable adoption among higher-need cohorts and strengthen long-term loyalty.

In June 2026, we analyzed 4,010 ChatGPT recommendations across 13 categories in the tech hardware and devices industry to compile the AI Visibility Index.

Oura courts GLP-1 users with free ring sizing kit via Lilly tie-up, signaling how drugmakers are pairing therapies with digital health tools to boost engagement and long-term adherence.

Oura's smart ring adds blood pressure signals, health records, and clinician chat—further blurring the line between wellness tools and healthcare tools.

Google Health app will use device data and medical records to deliver health insights, intensifying competition among consumer health wearables and AI tools.

A $10.1 billion valuation fuels its AI-driven health ambitions as Apple, Oura, and Fitbit ramp up rival features.

Maven Clinic’s agentic AI service meets rising demand by women for more personalized tools and raises the bar for brands in AI-assisted healthcare.

Most consumers give health apps a try, but just 3% stay after 30 days. AI features may be the fix, but only if brands don't overhype their value.

Health apps are mainstream, but brands are having trouble keeping users engaged. Actionable, value-added AI features will be essential for many health apps to stay relevant.

New AI capabilities add clinician-vetted, empathetic guidance for women—the predominant segment of its user base.

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

As funding concentrates among fewer companies, smaller players may need to sharpen differentiation.

Lab testing company Function Health raised a $298 million oversubscribed Series B funding round, bringing the company’s valuation to $2.5 billion. Consumer adoption of cash-pay wellness services is surging, though offerings exceeding $1,000 all-in may see constrained demand. Companies entering D2C lab testing should avoid overpromising the value of testing hundreds of biomarkers, ground their claims in solid science, and be transparent about pricing—including add-on costs.

Oura Ring sales have surpassed 5.5 million since first being offered in 2015, with over half of those sales coming since June 2024. Oura could leverage its vast market appeal and endorsements from mega-celebrities to develop a wrist-worn device that would help the company compete against Apple, Samsung, and Google/Fitbit in the broader health wearables space. But Oura could be at a disadvantage against those companies if it’s going to lean on its smart ring as a do-it-all health-tracking product, since some of those capabilities (e.g., displaying pace, distance, and heart rate during a run) are more conducive to having a device with a screen.

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: Oura is partnering with Maven Clinic to integrate smart ring data with providers’ care and treatment plans. Our take: We think it will take a while for providers to incorporate device data into the decisions they make for patients, which are typically based on clinical research studies and medical literature. Oura shouldn’t bet too heavily on securing doctors’ trust, and instead home in on the recent advancements it’s making on using AI to drive a better consumer experience.