More than 40 million people turn to ChatGPT with health-care-related questions every day—a level of demand that helped spur OpenAI’s 2026 launch of ChatGPT Health, which lets users upload medical records and other personal information.Karan Singhal leads the Health AI team at OpenAI, a group of researchers dedicated to improving AI capabilities in health settings. He’s played a key role in the push into this sensitive space, aiming to prioritize the safety and reliability of the large language models that power ChatGPT Health. (OpenAI and TIME have a licensing and technology agreement that allows OpenAI to access TIME’s archives.) “The idea that you could have a companion in your pocket helping you navigate care has been a dream for a long time,” he says.
Singhal worked alongside more than 260 physicians from around the world to shape and refine the system, and partnered on a clinical study that tests how AI can function as a clinician copilot in care settings. That work has informed ChatGPT for Healthcare, a new suite of products designed to improve care and slash administrative burden. It’s already been deployed in facilities like Boston Children’s Hospital and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Disclosure: OpenAI and TIME have a licensing and technology agreement that allows OpenAI to access TIME’s archives.