It has been reported that following the launch of ChatGPT Health, OpenAI officially announced today the completion of its acquisition of the healthcare startup Torch. Founded last year by four employees, the company focuses on developing solutions that unify and integrate multi-dimensional healthcare data, such as lab test results, medication information, and consultation recordings. According to public reports, the acquisition deal is valued at approximately $100 million, and all members of Torch have confirmed that they will join OpenAI.

With the dual strategic support of Microsoft (MSFT.US) and SoftBank (SFTBY.US), OpenAI officially launched ChatGPT Health, its new product in the healthcare field, last week. According to the company’s official statement, the core objective of this product is to empower users—through intelligent health management tools, enabling them to achieve “greater awareness, better preparedness, and stronger confidence” regarding their own health conditions.

Torch stated: “We founded Torch to build a medical memory for AI, unifying fragmented records into a contextual engine to help you see the full picture, connect the dots, and ensure important information is no longer lost in the noise. Today, by joining OpenAI, we aim to achieve this vision on a much larger scale, something we could not have accomplished alone.”

OpenAI posted on the social media platform X: “Integrating this innovative tool deeply with ChatGPT Health opens up entirely new pathways for understanding and managing personal health.”

A growing number of technology companies are targeting the lucrative healthcare market, betting that advancements in artificial intelligence can help analyze patterns in users’ health data to provide personalized medical advice. However, these initiatives have also raised concerns about the privacy and security risks associated with AI services processing more sensitive personal data and offering advice for higher-risk health issues.

ChatGPT Health provides specially designed encryption and isolation features, enabling users to interact with the application in a more secure and private manner. These features are designed to protect and isolate health-related conversations, ensuring that users’ private data remains safeguarded throughout the interaction process.

OpenAI stated that more than 200 million people already consult ChatGPT weekly with health and wellness-related questions. The company also mentioned that over the past two years, it has consulted with more than 260 doctors to refine the health-related functionalities of its AI technology. Additionally, the company plans to isolate health-related conversations from other parts of the application and introduce enhanced privacy features.

The OpenAI team emphasized that the service is intended to complement, not replace, doctors’ judgments. Fei-Fei Li, CEO of OpenAI’s application division, noted: “Doctors don’t have enough time or energy. They can’t spend a lot of time understanding everything about you, nor do they have the time to explain things in a way you can understand. Meanwhile, when you look at artificial intelligence, it is entirely free from these constraints.”

In recent years, major technology companies have been making significant investments in the health and medical fields, including Apple (AAPL.US), Amazon (AMZN.US), Meta Platforms (META.US), Samsung, and Microsoft.