Anthropic expands into health care with new Claude tools

Anthropic announced a suite of health care and life sciences features for its Claude AI, now available to Pro and Max subscribers in the U.S. The launch follows OpenAI's recent ChatGPT Health rollout and the companies emphasized privacy protections for shared health data.

Anthropic announced a new suite of health care and life sciences features for its Claude artificial intelligence platform, enabling users to share health records and fitness app data to better understand their medical information. The launch comes shortly after OpenAI introduced ChatGPT Health and reflects a broader move by major AI companies into health care. Anthropic said the new functions are available to Pro and Max plan subscribers in the U.S. The company emphasized privacy protections and the need for professional oversight alongside the rollout. Key details: - Claude's health features allow users to share information from health records and fitness apps, including Apple's iOS Health app. - Anthropic said health data shared with Claude is excluded from the model's memory and is not used for training future systems; users can disconnect or edit permissions at any time. - Claude for Healthcare is available to Pro and Max plan subscribers in the U.S., while OpenAI's ChatGPT Health currently uses a waitlist for access. - Anthropic announced a HIPAA-ready infrastructure and said the platform can connect to federal health coverage databases and the official registry of medical providers. - Anthropic's acceptable use policy requires that a qualified professional review content or decisions prior to dissemination when Claude is used for medical guidance. - The rollout arrives amid heightened scrutiny of AI in medical and mental health contexts, including a recent lawsuit settlement involving other AI companies. Summary: Anthropic says the features could streamline administrative tasks and help people interpret medical information, while stressing systems can make mistakes and that professional review is required. Undetermined at this time.