Sam Altman’s OpenAI has rolled out a new feature called ChatGPT health, aimed at assisting a huge market of consumers concerned with their health, as per an official product update dated 7th January, 2026. For now, the update is available on a limited basis, with a waitlist option for users who are interested in signing up to try it out.
This is the first significant product update of the year by OpenAI and is a continuation of its attempt to target multiple verticals already tapped into by traditional tech systems.
With the new feature, OpenAI will be tapping into a space that is already dominated by Google’s search engine; the wearables market that tracks metrics such as heart rate, daily step count, and other wellness metrics; and health-based apps on smartphones and tablets.
The official statement says that 230 million people every week ask ChatGPT queries that often relate to matters of health and wellness. It also says that data given in the health tool of ChatGPT will not be used to train its foundational models.
“To keep your health information protected and secure, Health operates as a separate space with enhanced privacy to protect sensitive data,” read the official statement
Conversations in Health are not used to train our foundation models. If you start a health-related conversation in ChatGPT, we’ll suggest moving into Health for these additional protections.”
For now, Health will be made available to a small group of “eligible” ChatGPT users outside of the following areas:
- European Economic Area (EEA)
- Switzerland
- United Kingdom
And ChatGPT users of the following plans will be able to access health:
- ChatGPT Free
- ChatGPT Go
- ChatGPT Plus
- ChatGPT Pro