OpenAI has acquired Torch, a small healthcare technology startup that specialises in consolidating fragmented patient data such as lab results, medications and doctor visit records into an integrated system for artificial intelligence, the company said in a post on X. The acquisition is part of OpenAI’s broader effort to enhance its ChatGPT Health capabilities and expand into AI‑driven healthcare tools.
OpenAI agreed to acquire Torch in a transaction equivalent to approximately $100 million in equity. The deal has not been officially disclosed in full detail by OpenAI, but reports indicate the startup’s four‑person team will join OpenAI to help build out and improve the company’s health‑focused AI features.
Founded in 2024 by healthcare and AI professionals, Torch developed a platform aimed at acting as a “medical memory for AI,” intended to unify health information from digital sources including hospitals, labs and wearable devices into a single context engine that artificial intelligence models can use for more comprehensive insights.
The acquisition follows the recent launch of ChatGPT Health, a feature that allows users to connect their medical records and wellness app data with ChatGPT to receive more personalised and context-aware health information. Integrating Torch’s technology is expected to strengthen how ChatGPT Health interprets and manages personal health data, helping the AI better understand and respond to users’ health‑related prompts.
OpenAI’s move into healthcare reflects a growing trend among major AI companies to apply advanced models to specialised domains such as health and life sciences. Competitors have also introduced dedicated healthcare features for their AI models, signalling increased industry focus on customised AI for professional and consumer health use cases.
Torch’s founders, including Ilya Abyzov and Eugene Huang, indicated via posts on social media that joining OpenAI represents an opportunity to bring their technology and vision to a much broader audience, leveraging ChatGPT’s existing user base and infrastructure to accelerate development in AI‑enabled healthcare.
