OpenAI announced it has acquired a tiny startup called Torch for an undisclosed sum. An unnamed source told The Information that OpenAI paid $100 million worth of equity for the startup. Torch’s four-person team is joining OpenAI, both companies said.
Torch was working on an app that combined all of a person’s medical information for AI use from a range of sources such as doctor visits, lab tests, wearables, and other portals, including consumer wellness tests and the like. The Torch team called their tech “a medical memory for AI, unifying scattered records into a context engine.”
The Torch team met when they worked at Forward Health, Torch co-founder Ilya Abyzov said in a post on X. Forward was known for its AI-powered doctors’ offices. It abruptly shut down in late 2024 after raising over $400 million.
This acqui-hire means a different fate. The team and its tech will be part of OpenAI’s newly announced ChatGPT Health, a service for people using the chatbot to analyze and manage their health.
Source: techcrunch.com
