A battleground that everyone fights for! After OpenAI and Anthropic, Apple is also entering "medical healthcare".

As technology giants accelerate their penetration into vertical sectors, healthcare is becoming the most fiercely contested area for artificial intelligence applications, following search engines and office software. According to sources cited by 9to5Mac, Apple plans to launch a revamped Health app in the upcoming iOS 26.4 update this spring. This update will introduce AI agents, diet tracking features, and a video service similar to Fitness+, aiming to leverage its hardware advantages to strengthen its moat in health monitoring and directly challenge market leaders such as MyFitnessPal and Noom. Just a few days before Apple’s new moves were revealed, two major leaders in the AI industry completed their own deployments in the healthcare sector. OpenAI data shows that over 230 million people seek health advice on its platform every week. In response, the company launched ChatGPT Health, aiming to transform its chatbot into a “personal super assistant” that integrates users’ medical records. Meanwhile, Anthropic announced a healthcare AI tool compliant with HIPAA (U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) standards, which has already been adopted by major healthcare systems including Banner Health. Apple’s Comprehensive Counterattack: AI Agents and Diet Tracking Apple CEO Tim Cook has repeatedly stated that Apple’s greatest contribution to society will be in the health sector. The forthcoming iOS 26.4 will be a key step toward realizing this vision. Reportedly, Apple’s upcoming Health app overhaul in iOS 26.4 is not simply a redesign, but a comprehensive expansion of its features. Diet tracking will be the centerpiece of this update. Apple previously avoided entering this area but is now moving forward at full speed. This feature will allow users to track calories and assist with weight loss, putting it in direct competition with weight management apps like MyFitnessPal and Noom. Additionally, Apple is developing an “AI health agent.” This feature will utilize all health data from paired user devices to provide personalized health and nutrition advice. Sources indicate that in the future, this function could even use the iPhone’s rear camera to analyze users' exercise posture in real-time and offer suggestions for improvement. In terms of content services, Apple is trying to replicate the successful model of Apple Fitness+ by launching a similar health video service. According to Bloomberg, Apple plans to set up a dedicated facility in Oakland, California, inviting sleep experts, nutritionists, cardiologists, and others to record instructional videos. The core logic of this service revolves around a data-driven feedback loop: when the Health app detects a negative trend in a user’s metrics (such as sleep or heart rate), the system will automatically push related expert advice videos. OpenAI’s Entry: Creating a “Personal Super Assistant” Unlike Apple’s hardware ecosystem focus, OpenAI is entering the market through its large language model capabilities. OpenAI’s Head of Application Business, Fidji Simo, stated that ChatGPT Health is an important step in transforming ChatGPT into a “personal super assistant.” To address privacy concerns, ChatGPT Health has set up an independent space within the chatbot. OpenAI promises that conversations, files, and connected app data within this space will be isolated from other chat history and will not be used to train its foundational models. On the data integration front, OpenAI has partnered with infrastructure provider b.well. Users can connect data from Apple Health, MyFitnessPal, Weight Watchers, and lab-testing startup Function to ChatGPT. This open strategy enables OpenAI to leverage existing health data ecosystems rather than building from scratch. Anthropic’s Push in the B2B Market: Regulatory Compliance and Clinical Efficiency Just days after OpenAI released its new tool, its main competitor Anthropic showcased a completely different approach—focusing on the B2B clinical market. Anthropic announced that its chatbot Claude has launched new healthcare services compliant with HIPAA standards. This compliance certification is the “entry ticket” into the U.S. professional healthcare market, allowing hospitals and medical institutions to legally use its tool to process protected health data. Anthropic’s Chief Product Officer, Mike Krieger, said: “When we think about the overall economy and which fields AI can have the biggest impact on, once you do the right thing with regulation and data, healthcare is truly a great fit.” Market feedback shows the effectiveness of the B2B strategy. Anthropic revealed that Banner Health, one of the largest nonprofit healthcare systems in the U.S., already has more than 22,000 clinical providers using Claude. Data indicates that 85% of users reported faster work speeds and higher accuracy after using it. In addition, Anthropic has also formed partnerships with Novo Nordisk and Stanford Health Care. Risk Warning and Disclaimer The market has risks, and investments must be made cautiously. This article does not constitute individual investment advice and does not take into account the specific investment objectives, financial situation, or needs of any particular user. 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