News roundup: Microsoft debuts a rebooted Copilot Health, Stryker whacked by Iranian cyberattack, Amazon buys Rivr robotics for delivery, Turquoise Health’s $40M raise, Verily raises $300M to shake off Alphabet control

March 20, 2026 | by

Microsoft joins the AI health chatbot club with a rebooted Copilot Health. Copilot Health will be much like its competitors:  OpenAI/ChatGPT for Health and Anthropic’s Claude for Healthcare [TTA 28 Jan]. It allows consumers to upload their medical records, health histories, and data from wearables and connected devices, then draw on that information to organize, analyze, and provide guidance to individuals. It’s a reboot because, as Sergei Polevikov of AI Health Uncut revealed, Microsoft debuted Copilot for Health last October. The earlier iteration lacked access to EHRs and medical records other than personally held. Copilot Health now uses HealthEx to connect to EHRs, hospitals, and patient portals, and pull that information after consent–same as Claude for Healthcare. (ChatGPT uses b.well) Mr. Polevikov makes the logical argument that the HealthEx API (and b.well’s) already have the full framework standards and compatibility to be marketed DTC, for the consumer to do as he or she pleases. Unlike ChatGPT and Claude, there is no provider version. (ChatGPT’s consumer version is still in slow rollout.) Healthcare Dive, AI Health Uncut (subscription required)

Orthopedics device and robotics giant Stryker cyberattacked, recovering, Iranian hacktivists identified. Last Wednesday (11 March), Stryker revealed that a severe, global cyberattack disrupted its customer support, ordering, manufacturing, and shipping operations, wiping information from . It affected operations within the Microsoft environment. It has not affected products including connected products.  As of Tuesday, Stryker reported that it had been “contained” on the damage they are aware of and that systems are starting to be restored, though the full scope of the disruption is not yet known. Other reports indicate disruption and wiping on multiple systems. 

According to DataBreaches.net and Bleeping Computer, the Iranian-linked Handala hacker group claimed that they had stolen 50 TB of data, then wiped tens of thousands of systems and servers across the company’s network including applications such as Intune Company Portal, Teams, and VPN clients often used on personal devices. Handala is “linked to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) that targets Israeli organizations with destructive malware designed to wipe Windows and Linux devices.” Their message on Bleeping Computer positions the hack as retaliation against Israeli attacks on Iran and calls Stryker a “Zionist-rooted corporation”, which is rather ‘rich’ for a company founded and HQ’d in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Healthcare Dive 13 Mar, 17 Mar

Amazon buys Rivr to test robot delivery. The Swiss startup has limited information on its website (but plenty of video). It has developed 4 wheeled “General Physical AI” robots with legs that can negotiate steps and drop off packages. Amazon intends to test the Rivr robot for doorstep delivery to assist its third-party delivery contractors who perform the arduous and highly pressured ‘last mile’ delivery from Amazon warehouses to customer doors. Amazon has been investing in robotics since 2012 for warehouse operations. It previously invested in Rivr’s $22 million seed round last March through its Industrial Innovation Fund and Bezos Expeditions, Jeff Bezos’ VC firm, for a valuation of $100 million. Rivr tested the delivery robots last year in Austin with Veho, a package delivery service, though the final outcome (scaling to 100 robots) is not confirmed.  CNBC, TechCrunch

Turquoise Health scored a $40 million Series C funding. Turquoise is a pricing and payment platform that connects data, contract intelligence, and revenue cycle workflows for clear pricing transparency and to reduce the cost of errors in administration, claims, and reimbursement. The round was led by Oak HC/FT, with participation from existing investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Adams Street Partners, and Yosemite, for a total raise of $100 million. Release, MedCityNews 

And winding up the week, Verily raises $300 million–and independence from Alphabet. Now rebranded as Verily Health Inc., it is now a precision health solutions company. It has pivoted since at least 2016 from various iterations as originally the Google X life sciences ‘skunkworks’–devices, bioelectronics, smart contact lenses, smartwatches, smart diapers…  The funding was led by Series X Capital, with participation from Alphabet, UCHealth, the University of Colorado Anschutz and other investors. Alphabet remains a significant minority investor in Verily, while no longer having a controlling stake.  Release 

One-two punch: AI moves hard into clinical healthcare and consumer medical with OpenAI/ChatGPT and Claude for Healthcare debuts

January 28, 2026 | by

Two of the major movers in generative and agentic AI announced healthcare products within days of each other–and in time for both the tail end of CES and at JPM. Let’s make some sense out of the hype–along with Claude’s 12-page, ‘connecting the dots’ health plan generated for one individual (see the closing).

First out of the gate was OpenAI entering provider medical management with OpenAI for Healthcare, a set of products that includes ChatGPT for Healthcare. ChatGPT for Healthcare was rolled out earlier this month to AdventHealth, Baylor Scott & White Health, Boston Children’s Hospital, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, HCA Healthcare, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Stanford Medicine Children’s Health and University of California, San Francisco. ChatGPT for Healthcare is designed to use generative AI to support clinicians in reasoning during patient care and to reduce administrative burden. Key features include:

  • Models built for healthcare clinical, operational, and research workflows built on GPT‑5 models 
  • Evidence retrieval with transparent citations that draw from millions of peer-reviewed research studies, public health guidance, and clinical guidelines
  • Institutional policy and care pathway alignment that integrate with enterprise tools such as Microsoft SharePoint and other systems
  • Templates to automate workflows
  • Access management and governance
  • Data control and support for HIPAA compliance

OpenAI’s API has already been used in HIPAA-compliant healthcare software marketed by Abridge, Ambience, and EliseAI. There was no public timetable for availability to other healthcare organizations. OpenAI release

The consumer version, ChatGPT for Health, is still in test. The limited information available indicates that it will provide a secure storage area for connecting personal medical records and wellness apps. ChatGPT is touting its current track record of being a leading source of health and wellness information for 230 million people globally. The new program will help individuals understand recent test results, prepare for doctor appointments, advise on diet and workout routines, and understand the tradeoffs of different insurance options based on healthcare patterns. OpenAI will be operating it as a separate space to protect this data and not use this information to train their models. At this point, it’s waitlisted for nearly everyone, but some users across their various products will be invited to test it. It will be available only in the US. OpenAI release, Healthcare Finance

Days later, Anthropic, the parent company of agentic AI Claude, stole a cheeky march on rival OpenAI at JPM by announcing Claude for Healthcare, not only for providers but also for consumers. The HIPAA-compliant tools for Claude are built on their Opus 4.5 latest software version and on their October release for Life Sciences. The sense this Editor has is that the two actually run somewhat in tandem. Claude’s tools for providers center on prior authorization, insurance claims appeals, care coordination and patient triaging, clinical administration, and healthcare startup developers. Claude’s tools compile information added from the CMS Coverage Database, ICD-10, and the National Provider Identifier (NPI) Registry.

For individuals, Claude Pro and Max subscribers in the US can connect their personal health records and results to Claude. Their integrations or ‘connectors’ include HealthEx and Function in beta, with Apple Health and Android Health Connect integrations following in beta via the Claude iOS and Android apps. Once connected, “Claude can summarize users’ medical history, explain test results in plain language, detect patterns across fitness and health metrics, and prepare questions for appointments. The aim is to make patients’ conversations with doctors more productive, and to help users stay well-informed about their health.” Which puts this connectivity for individuals in the here and now, a step ahead of OpenAI.  Anthropic release, Healthcare page  

Two 9000-lb elephants in AI have staked out their territory in healthcare. How much takeup both for clinical and personal models will happen, how long they will take to ‘debug’, and how long it will take for a paying clinical model, are interesting bets to take. Anthropic apparently won the PR war by announcing at JPM, as evidenced on CNBC‘s and Mobihealthnews’s reports,. But then there’s this breathless rave review on the Food is Health Revolution blog on how Claude, digesting 60 files collected over a decade, generated a 12-page health plan that connected the writer’s low thyroid with her cognitive problems. Bingo!