OpenAI has just announced the acquisition of Torch, a small-scale startup operating in the field of digital health records, at an unofficial price.
According to an anonymous source revealed to The Information, OpenAI spent about 100 million USD in shares to complete this deal.
After the merger, the entire four-person team of Torch will join OpenAI. The move shows that OpenAI not only buys technology but also wants to retain the core research capacity of this startup to serve long-term projects in the medical field.
Torch is developing an application capable of synthesizing all personal health information into a single system for artificial intelligence to use.
Data is collected from many different sources such as doctor appointments, test results, smart wearable devices, patient information portals, as well as health checks for consumers.
The Torch group calls their solution "medical memory for AI", helping to merge disparate files into a complete and structured context layer.
According to Torch co-founder Ilya Abyzov, this team met when they worked together at Forward Health, a company famous for its artificial intelligence application clinic model.
Forward Health once raised more than 400 million USD but unexpectedly closed at the end of 2024.
The fact that Torch was acquired by OpenAI opens up a completely different direction for the founding group.
Torch's technology and personnel will become part of ChatGPT Health, a new service announced by OpenAI, aimed at supporting users to analyze, track and manage personal health through chatbots.
This is considered an important step in the ambition to bring AI deeper into the field of healthcare.
