Thrive Global and the OpenAI Startup Fund have announced the creation of Thrive AI Health, a new company dedicated to developing an AI health coach. This venture aims to democratize access to expert health coaching, focusing on chronic disease prevention and health equity.
Thrive AI Health’s mission is to use generative AI to deliver hyper-personalized behavior change support across five key health behaviors: sleep, nutrition, fitness, stress management, and social connection. The AI health coach aims to significantly improve health outcomes by focusing on these daily habits.
The initiative has backing from the Alice L. Walton Foundation. DeCarlos Love, a former leader in health and wearables at Google, has been appointed CEO of Thrive AI Health. Love’s background includes leading sensors, AI & ML algorithms, and health and fitness experiences at Google, including Fitbit, Pixel Watch, and Wear OS.
In an op-ed for TIME, Sam Altman and Arianna Huffington wrote, “So much of the conversation around AI has been about how much time it will save us and how productive it will make us. But AI could go well beyond efficiency and optimization to something much more fundamental: improving both our health spans and our lifespans. Because health is also what happens between doctor visits. In the same way the New Deal built out physical infrastructure to transform the country, AI will serve as part of the critical infrastructure of a much more effective health care system that supports everyday people’s health in an ongoing way. These are some of the ideas behind Thrive AI Health.”
The Thrive AI Health Coach will integrate an AI personal context engine that tailors insights and recommendations to each user’s unique needs. Combining data from peer-reviewed science, biometric and lab data, and user preferences, the AI coach will offer a holistic and personalized health experience.
Thrive AI Health is committed to reaching underserved communities, recognizing the disproportionate burden of chronic diseases across different demographics. Dr. Gbenga Ogedegbe, Professor of Population Health & Medicine and Director at NYU Langone’s Institute for Excellence in Health Equity, will serve as Health Equity Advisor to ensure the technology benefits those most in need.
Thrive AI Health is collaborating with institutions such as Stanford Medicine, the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine, and the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute at West Virginia University. These partnerships aim to integrate the AI health coach into diverse communities and explore its potential in enhancing healthcare delivery and education.
Dr. Sharmila Makhija, Founding Dean and CEO of the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine, stated, “Working together with Stanford Medicine and Thrive AI Health, we are excited to engage our faculty and future physicians to explore the use of AI Health Coach in ways that reflect our whole health approach. We strongly believe AI will positively change the future of health care, from medical education to clinical care, and we are committed to leveraging this technology to its full potential.”
Thrive AI Health aims to address the challenge of chronic diseases, which account for a significant portion of healthcare spending in the U.S. By focusing on behavior change through advanced AI coaching, the company aims to reduce healthcare costs and improve quality of life globally.
DeCarlos Love, CEO of Thrive AI Health, commented: “Recent advancements in artificial intelligence present an unprecedented opportunity to make behavior change much more powerful and sustainable. AI has shown a remarkable ability to assimilate large datasets, extract actionable insights, recognize patterns, and deliver personalized recommendations. However, despite these technological advances, the current landscape of large language models (LLMs) still falls short of delivering a truly comprehensive and effective personalized behavior change and coaching experience. Thrive AI Health Coach is the product to solve the limitations of current AI and LLM-based solutions by providing personalized, proactive, and data-driven coaching across the five daily behaviors. This is how it will improve health outcomes, reduce healthcare costs and significantly impact chronic diseases worldwide.”
Alice Walton, founder of the Alice L. Walton Foundation, Heartland Whole Health Institute, and the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine, commented: “Through AI, we can make health and wellness opportunities more accessible for all. Thrive AI Health offers the potential of increasing access to tools that can change behaviors and ultimately increase quality of life.”
Dr. Michael Pfeffer, Chief Information and Digital Officer for Stanford Health Care, said: “At Stanford Health Care, we are committed to delivering transformative digital experiences that enhance patient care, enable cutting-edge research, and help train tomorrow’s health leaders. We are excited to explore the potential of AI Health Coach to advance these goals for the benefit of patients and providers alike.”
Dr. Ali Rezai, Director of the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, added; “For the last five years, the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute has partnered with Thrive Global, conducting clinical research studies involving over 3,000 participants linking our Human Operating System and AI-driven real time digital health insights with Thrive Global’s behavior change methodology, Microsteps and content. We are excited about this next stage collaboration with Thrive AI Health to accelerate the impact of personalized coaching to improve health, especially in rural America.”
