OpenAI Acquires Torch to Expand ChatGPT Health Capabilities

When generative AI companies talk about healthcare, the conversation often drifts toward diagnostic accuracy or regulatory caution. OpenAI’s acquisition of Torch suggests a different priority altogether: context. In buying a four-person startup focused on aggregating personal medical data, OpenAI is betting that the next phase of AI-driven health tools will be defined less by algorithms and more by how well fragmented health data can be stitched together.

Torch’s team will now join OpenAI to work on health and wellness features for ChatGPT, according to a January 13 post by Torch co-founder Ilya Abyzov. Reports indicate OpenAI paid around $100 million in equity for the acquisition. Both companies confirmed that Torch’s entire team is moving to OpenAI.

The move comes as OpenAI rolls out ChatGPT Health, a dedicated space for health-related conversations, signalling a broader push to make health a core vertical rather than an edge use case.

From Chat Interface to Health Context Engine

Founded in 2024, Torch was built around a simple but persistent problem in healthcare: data fragmentation. Medical histories often sit across hospitals, labs, wearables, and consumer health apps, limiting how effectively AI systems can reason over them.

“We designed Torch to be a unified medical memory for AI, bringing every bit of data about you from hospitals, labs, wearables, and consumer testing companies into one place,” Abyzov said.

For OpenAI, this capability fits directly into the evolution of ChatGPT Health. The new feature creates a dedicated environment for medical and wellness conversations, separating them from general chats while still allowing the AI to draw relevant context when appropriate. For example, if a user has previously discussed marathon training, ChatGPT Health can factor that into fitness-related guidance.

The acquisition gives OpenAI a foundational layer for organising longitudinal health data, an area where many AI healthcare initiatives have stalled.

Why OpenAI Chose to Acquire, Not Build

Torch’s transition to OpenAI resembles an acqui-hire, but the timing matters. The Torch founders previously worked together at Forward Health, an AI-driven healthcare startup that shut down in late 2024 despite significant funding. Their experience building large-scale health systems appears to have informed Torch’s narrower focus on data infrastructure rather than clinical delivery.

“This isn’t the way we guessed it would happen, but making Torch a part of OpenAI means the mission we started at Forward is closer than ever,” Abyzov said.

The scale of ChatGPT was a decisive factor. “I can’t imagine a better next chapter than to now get to put our technology and ideas in the hands of the hundreds of millions of people who already use ChatGPT for health questions every week,” he added.

OpenAI has said that more than 230 million users already ask health-related questions on ChatGPT weekly, an adoption signal that few healthcare platforms can match.

Data, Privacy, and the Trust Question

Health data remains one of the most sensitive categories of personal information, and OpenAI appears aware that scale alone will not guarantee adoption.

Abyzov addressed privacy concerns directly, stating that Torch would not have joined OpenAI without confidence in its approach to “privacy, safety, collaboration with physicians, and building something at an extremely high level of craft and consumer polish.”

OpenAI has said that conversations within ChatGPT Health will not be used to train its AI models. The company also noted that users will be prompted to move health-related discussions into the Health section if they begin elsewhere.

These guardrails may prove critical as OpenAI moves closer to becoming an active participant in personal health management rather than a passive information source.

OpenAI’s Torch acquisition highlights a broader shift in enterprise AI strategy: the bottleneck is no longer model capability but usable data context. While many healthcare AI initiatives focus on prediction or automation, OpenAI is building infrastructure for continuity, enabling AI systems to reason across time, sources, and personal history.

For enterprises operating at the intersection of AI, healthcare, and consumer platforms, the deal underscores a key lesson: vertical AI success depends as much on data architecture and trust frameworks as it does on generative intelligence.

As ChatGPT Health evolves, OpenAI’s challenge will be balancing personalisation with restraint, offering meaningful insights without crossing into unregulated clinical territory.