Debunked Episode 23: Companies vying for healthcare AI dominance
Artificial intelligence in healthcare is changing as Anthropric and OpenAI battle for industry dominance. Over the past year, both companies have been looking to build their own healthcare offerings. Debunked Podcast hosts MedCity News editor-in-chief Arundhati Parmar and Health Innovation Pitch managing partner Samir Batra noted that while both companies offer consumer search tools (a point highlighted by OpenAI for Healthcare's launch last month of Chat GPT Health), the differences are more pronounced in the tools they offer clinicians and healthcare administrators.
OpenAI is supported by hospitals such as Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Baylor Scott & White, and Boston Children's, which are keen to pilot the use of Open AI in healthcare to improve operational efficiency.
Anthropic launches tools for research scientists and clinicians. Its Claude for Healthcare and Claude for Life Sciences users include companies such as Banner Health, Sanofi and Novo Nordisk.
There are still plenty of opportunities for other companies to apply AI to healthcare and life sciences.
Samir pointed out that the valuation of medical information and decision support platform Open Evidence has soared in the past year. The company, which has signed deals with the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, was valued at $1 billion in early 2025 and has climbed to $12 billion in recent weeks.
Pharmaceutical companies also view AI collaboration and partnerships as critical to maintaining a competitive edge in R&D. Arundhati pointed to Eli Lilly's collaboration with Nvidia, which brings together Nvidia data scientists and Eli Lilly drug discovery staff in an innovation lab in South San Francisco. GSK announces collaboration with Noetik to develop next-generation cancer therapies.
Arundhati also spoke about the unrest in Minneapolis, which she once called home.
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