Willow and Ema EQ have announced the formation of the Women’s Health AI Consortium, an industry body dedicated to establishing shared benchmarks, ethical standards, and transparent evaluation methods for AI in women’s health. Founding members include Clue, Oura, and Thrive Global.
The consortium is organized around a core concern: AI tools in women’s health are being built on incomplete data, deployed without sufficient oversight, and validated against benchmarks that were never designed for female biology. The initiative aims to set standards before this becomes the default rather than trying to fix it after the fact.
“Women’s health AI is moving at a pace that demands immediate, coordinated accountability,” said Sarah O’Leary, CEO of Willow. “This Consortium gives the industry a clear, shared standard – one that is built on evidence, reflects lived experience, and holds every tool accountable to the women it serves.”
“We co-founded this Consortium because the stakes are too high to leave standards to chance,” said Amanda Ducach, CEO of Ema EQ. “Women deserve AI that is clinically safe, culturally aware, and designed with them, not just for them.”
The governance framework covers six areas: Ethical and safety standards, bias reduction and cultural integrity, emotional and clinical quality at scale, contextual and longitudinal intelligence, mentorship for ethical AI builders, and transparent oversight. The consortium is governed by a multidisciplinary board including clinicians, technologists, and ethicists – among them Audrey Tsang (board member and former CEO at Clue), Tanvi Jayaraman, MD (clinical lead at Oura), Asima Ahmad, MD (CMO at Carrot Fertility), and Melissa Bennett (SVP of engineering and AI strategy at Thrive Global).
The consortium’s expectations include AI tools meeting accuracy benchmarks, contributing data that helps close gaps in women’s health, remaining transparent about data sources, and being honest with users about limitations. For companies developing or procuring AI tools in women’s health, the consortium aims to provide clearer reference points for what trustworthy looks like in practice.
