Healthcare startup Torch is acquired by OpenAI in a $100 million agreement

OpenAI Acquires Healthtech Startup Torch in $100 Million Deal to Strengthen AI Healthcare Push

OpenAI on Monday announced the acquisition of healthtech startup Torch as part of its strategy to expand into AI-powered healthcare tools. The deal is valued at around $100 million in equity, according to media reports.

Founded in 2024 by Ilya Abyzov and Eugene Huang, Torch is a small healthcare technology startup focused on unifying fragmented medical data—such as lab results, medications, doctor visit records and wearable data—into a single, AI-readable system. The founding team had previously worked together at Forward Health, an AI-enabled healthcare provider that has since shut down.

“Bringing this together with ChatGPT Health opens up a new way to understand and manage your health,” OpenAI said in a post on X.

Torch developed an application designed to function as a “medical memory for AI,” consolidating health information from disparate sources into a unified engine that enables deeper analysis and interpretation by artificial intelligence systems.

“The Torch team and I are joining OpenAI to help build ChatGPT Health into the best AI tool in the world for health and wellness,” Abyzov said in an online post.

The Torch team, which consists of around four members, will join OpenAI to help develop and scale ChatGPT Health, a recently launched feature that allows users to connect, analyse and interact with their personal health records through ChatGPT.

Integrating Torch’s technology is expected to enhance ChatGPT Health’s ability to interpret and contextualise personal medical data, improving insights for users while managing complex health information more effectively.

The acquisition highlights the growing interest among AI companies in specialised healthcare applications, as the sector moves beyond general-purpose chatbots toward more domain-specific tools. Rival AI company Anthropic announced a similar healthcare-focused feature over the weekend, signalling intensifying competition in the AI-healthcare space.