OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Health for 230 Million Weekly Users

OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Health, a dedicated space within ChatGPT designed for health and wellness conversations that introduces additional privacy protections and the ability to connect medical records and fitness apps.

The feature addresses what OpenAI calls one of ChatGPT’s most common use cases: over 230 million people globally ask health-related questions on the platform each week. ChatGPT Health gives these users a compartmentalized environment where health conversations, connected apps, and uploaded files remain separate from regular chats.

Users can connect data sources including Apple Health, MyFitnessPal, Weight Watchers, Function Health, AllTrails, Instacart, and Peloton. In the United States, medical records from healthcare providers can be imported through a partnership with b.well. This connected data grounds ChatGPT’s responses in the user’s actual health information rather than generic advice.

Privacy Architecture Sets Health Apart

OpenAI built ChatGPT Health with layered protections that go beyond the company’s standard security model. Health conversations use purpose-built encryption and isolation, keeping them compartmentalized from other ChatGPT interactions. Information and memories from the Health space do not flow outside of it.

Critically, conversations within ChatGPT Health will not be used to train OpenAI’s foundation models. This addresses one of the primary privacy concerns that has limited adoption of AI chatbots for sensitive health discussions. Users who have hesitated to discuss medical issues with ChatGPT now have a dedicated space with explicit data protections.

The feature is rolling out to ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, and Pro users outside of the European Economic Area, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. OpenAI is starting with a small group of early users before expanding access in the coming weeks. The company plans to make Health available on both web and iOS platforms.

Two Years of Physician Input

According to OpenAI’s accompanying whitepaper, the product was developed with input from more than 260 physicians across 60 countries and dozens of medical specialties over a two-year period. Those clinicians provided feedback on model outputs more than 600,000 times, shaping how ChatGPT Health responds to medical queries.

This extensive clinical input distinguishes ChatGPT Health from the existing health-adjacent capabilities of ChatGPT and competing AI assistants. Rather than simply applying a general-purpose language model to health questions, OpenAI has specifically tuned the product for medical conversations through sustained physician collaboration.

The company emphasizes clear boundaries despite this medical input. ChatGPT Health is explicitly not intended for diagnosis or treatment and is not FDA approved. OpenAI positions the feature as helping people “take a more active role in understanding and managing their health and wellness—while supporting, not replacing, care from clinicians.”

Platform Expansion Continues

ChatGPT Health follows a pattern of OpenAI expanding ChatGPT beyond its origins as a text-based assistant. ChatGPT Atlas launched in October as a full browser with agent capabilities. The Adobe integration in December brought professional creative tools inside ChatGPT. Health represents another vertical where OpenAI sees opportunity to become the default interface for specific categories of user needs.

The 230 million weekly health queries figure contextualizes the commercial logic. ChatGPT’s 800 million weekly users are already discussing health at massive scale—nearly one in three users ask health-related questions each week. By creating a dedicated, privacy-enhanced space for these conversations, OpenAI can potentially convert casual health queries into deeper engagement.

The connected app ecosystem also creates stickiness. Users who connect Apple Health data, import medical records, and accumulate health-specific memories become increasingly invested in ChatGPT Health as their primary health information interface. The data portability implications of this lock-in remain unclear.

What Users Should Know

ChatGPT Health walks a careful line between utility and liability. The feature can help users understand lab results, explain medical terminology, suggest questions to ask doctors, and provide general wellness guidance. It cannot diagnose conditions, prescribe treatments, or replace professional medical care.

The regional restrictions are notable. Users in the European Economic Area, Switzerland, and the UK cannot access ChatGPT Health, likely reflecting stricter data protection requirements under GDPR and similar regulations. Medical record integration is US-only, and Apple Health connectivity requires iOS.

For users who do have access, the feature represents OpenAI’s most significant investment in a vertical-specific ChatGPT experience. Whether 230 million weekly health queries translate into meaningful adoption of the dedicated Health space will depend on whether users find value in the additional privacy protections and data connectivity—or continue asking health questions through regular ChatGPT out of convenience.