OpenAI acquired Torch, a small startup that built software to collect a person's medical records, lab results and wearable data in one place where an AI model can read them. Torch announced the deal on its website on 12 January 2026 in a short post titled "Torch is joining OpenAI", and OpenAI confirmed the purchase in a post on X.
OpenAI did not disclose the terms. Trending Topics, citing The Information, reported that OpenAI was spending about $100 million in total, with roughly $60 million paid upfront and the rest in company shares meant to keep the team. The same outlet cited a CNBC report that put the purchase price at about $60 million. eWeek and Storyboard18 described the deal as worth about $100 million in equity.
Torch's four-person team moved to OpenAI to work on ChatGPT Health, the health feature OpenAI had unveiled a few days earlier. HLTH reported that co-founders Ilya Abyzov and Eugene Huang would lead the work of integrating Torch's technology.
What Torch built
Torch described its product as "a medical memory for AI": a context engine that brings together health records that normally sit with different providers in different formats. According to eWeek, it pulled data from hospitals, labs, wearables and consumer testing companies into a single system that an AI model could use. HLTH added genetic testing services to that list of sources.
In its farewell post, Torch argued that patients see only part of their own records, while doctors have little time to work through the growing volume of data people bring from fitness trackers and consumer health companies. The company said AI could help make sense of that information, but only if the records were not split across several hospitals, labs, apps and online portals.
OpenAI's own announcement on X summarised Torch as a healthcare startup that unifies lab results, medications and visit recordings.
“Now, we’re joining OpenAI to realize that vision at a bigger scale than we could have ever achieved on our own.”
Why OpenAI is buying
The purchase came days after OpenAI introduced ChatGPT Health, a feature that lets users connect medical records and wellness apps to the chatbot. Trending Topics noted that the feature was not yet available in the European Union at launch.
eWeek reported that more than 40 million people use ChatGPT every day for health questions, and that OpenAI says one in four of its roughly 800 million regular users sends a health-related prompt each week. OpenAI said it worked with more than 260 physicians over two years to develop ChatGPT Health.
Pulse 2.0 pointed out why a product like Torch fits: health questions often depend on how symptoms, lab values and medications change over months, which a single chat conversation cannot capture. A layer that gathers and organises that history gives the chatbot more context to work with. OpenAI also announced several products for healthcare organisations around the same time, according to Trending Topics.
The founders and Forward
Torch's founders met while working at Forward, a primary care startup that ran membership-based clinics built around technology and automation. Abyzov wrote on X that the team had come together there, Pulse 2.0 reported. Forward shut down abruptly in late 2024 after raising more than $400 million.
Pulse 2.0 and Storyboard18 both described the Torch purchase as closer to an acqui-hire than a conventional buyout, given the size of the team. Torch's own funding history and investors were not reported in coverage of the deal.
In its post, Torch said joining OpenAI would let it pursue its vision at a larger scale than it could have reached as an independent company.
A race for personal health context
The deal is part of a wider push by AI companies into healthcare. eWeek noted that Anthropic had recently launched Claude for Healthcare. HLTH described a shift among OpenAI, Anthropic and Google toward AI systems that reason over a person's long-term, individual context rather than single questions.
OpenAI has also been building up its deal-making team. Trending Topics reported that it hired Albert Lee from Google in December to lead corporate development, and recalled that OpenAI bought io, the AI devices startup founded by Jony Ive, for $6.5 billion in 2025. Compared with that deal, Torch was a small purchase aimed at bringing a specific capability and team into ChatGPT.
