Google announces new health-care AI updates for Search
A Google corporate logo hangs above the entrance to their office at St. John’s Terminal on March 11, 2025, in New York City.
Gary Hershorn | Corbis News | Getty Images
Google on Tuesday announced health-care updates to Search, including a way for people with specific health conditions to compare their experiences with others.
The company unveiled a new feature called “What People Suggest,” which uses AI to pull together online commentary from patients with similar diagnoses. A patient with arthritis would be able to look up how other people with the condition approach exercise, for instance. The feature is available on mobile devices in the U.S., Google said.
Google said it has also expanded its knowledge panels, or the information boxes that appear to the right of search results, to cover “thousands” more health topics. The panels are coming to new countries and languages, including Spanish, Japanese and Portuguese, starting on mobile devices.
The tech giant has launched several health-care projects and features over the years, but it has struggled to outline a consistent business strategy within the sector. The company built out a formal Google Health unit starting around 2018, which swelled to more than 500 employees, but it was dissolved in 2021.
Karen DeSalvo, Google’s chief health officer, told CNBC months later that the company was “still all-in on health.”
In recent years, many of Google’s health-care initiatives have centered around AI.
Google introduced artificial intelligence summaries called AI Overviews last year, and the feature shows a quick summary of answers to search questions at the very top of Search. The rollout was rocky, as users were quick to share examples AI tool giving incorrect and controversial responses, like encouraging users to add glue to pizza.
AI Overviews appear for some health-related queries, like “How do I know if I have the flu?” But some experts have encouraged users to use caution with these answers, according to a December report from The Senior List. Out of more than 200 health searches, a panel of medical experts said 70% Google’s AI Overviews were considered risky.
Google said Tuesday that recent health-focused advancements with its Gemini models have allowed the company to improve AI Overviews for health topics.
In late 2023, Google announced MedLM, a suite of AI models designed specifically for health-care, to help clinicians and researchers carry out complex studies, summarize doctor-patient interactions and complete other tasks.
The company also unveiled Vertex AI Search for Healthcare that year, which is a generative AI tool that clinicians can use to search for information across disparate medical records.
Watch: Google to acquire cloud security startup Wiz for $32 billion.
Close-up of a hand holding a cellphone displaying the Amazon Pharmacy system, Lafayette, California, September 15, 2021.
Smith Collection | Gado | Getty Images
Amazon is expanding its online pharmacy to fill prescription pet medications, the company announced Thursday.
The company said it has added “hundreds of commonly prescribed pet medications” to its U.S. site, ranging from flea and tick solutions to treatments for chronic conditions.
Prescriptions are purchased via Amazon’s storefront and must be approved by a veterinarian. Online pet pharmacy Vetsource will oversee the dispensing and delivery of medications, said Amazon, adding that items are typically delivered within two to six days.
Amazon launched its digital drugstore in 2020 with the added perk of discounts and free delivery for Prime members. The company has been working to speed up prescription shipments over the past year, bringing same-day delivery to a handful of U.S. cities. Last October, Amazon set a goal to make speedy medicine delivery available in nearly half of the U.S. in 2025.
The new pet medication offerings puts Amazon into more direct competition with online pet pharmacy Chewy, as well as Walmart, which offers pet prescription delivery.
Amazon Pharmacy is part of the company’s growing stable of healthcare offerings, which also includes One Medical, the primary care provider it acquired for roughly $3.9 billion in July 2022. Amazon’s online pharmacy was born out of the company’s 2018 acquisition of online pharmacy PillPack.
Whoop member wears the new device.
Courtesy of Whoop
Whoop on Thursday announced two new wearable devices, Whoop 5.0 and Whoop MG, which feature sleeker hardware, a longer battery life and additional in-app health insights.
Both of the company’s new devices are designed for 24/7 wear.
The Whoop 5.0 and Whoop MG support 14 days of battery life, which is around triple the four-to-five-day range offered by Whoop 4.0. The new hardware is also 7% smaller than the previous device, with a processor that’s 60% faster, the company said.
“We’ve taken everything we’ve learned over the past decade and built a platform to help our members perform and live at their peak for longer,” Whoop founder and CEO Will Ahmed said in a release.
The launch marks Whoop’s first major hardware update since 2021, when the company released Whoop 4.0. Whoop said its new devices will help users understand how their daily decisions impact their performance and health outcomes over time, according to a release.
Cost and tiers
There are three annual membership tiers: Whoop One, which costs $199 and includes the Whoop 5.0; Whoop Peak, which costs $239 and includes the Whoop 5.0; and Whoop Life, which costs $359 and includes the Whoop MG. Accessories like additional bands will come at an extra cost.
Whoop 5.0 and Whoop MG memberships and accessories are available for purchase online starting on Thursday.
Whoop’s new membership options.
Whoop
Whoop One members will be able to use their Whoop 5.0 to measure sleep, strain and recovery, as well as the cardiovascular and muscular impact of various workouts. Users can also track their menstrual cycles and pregnancies.
Whoop Peak builds on those core metrics. Members have access to a Health Monitor feature, which provides a quick look at vitals like respiratory rate, heart rate, blood oxygen, and skin temperature. Whoop Peak also supports a real-time stress monitor, where users can see their stress level and complete guided breathing sessions if they’d like to increase relaxation or alertness.
The company also unveiled a feature called Healthspan, which uses nine metrics to calculate adult users’ Whoop Age and Pace of Aging. A user’s Whoop Age compares their physiological age to their actual age, and Pace of Aging assesses how fast or slow someone is aging based on their behavior.
The Healthspan feature is updated every week, and users will get tips about how they can improve their Whoop Age and Pace of Aging in their app. Whoop developed this feature in partnership with the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, the company said.
The most comprehensive membership is Whoop Life, which will give users access to additional medical-grade health features with Whoop MG.
Whoop Life members can record an electrocardiogram, or an ECG, to detect irregular heart rhythms like AFib, high heart rate or low heart rate. Once the reading is complete, they can share a PDF of the recording with their doctor.
The ECG feature has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It’s not intended for users under 22 years old, or for users with a cardiac pacemaker or other implanted devices. It will be available in the U.S., the UAE and Qatar at launch, with additional countries coming soon.
Whoop Life members can also get daily insights about their blood pressure, including estimated systolic and diastolic ranges. Users will have to log a traditional cuff-reading to act as a baseline to unlock this feature, and it’s not intended for treatment, diagnosis or medical use.
Whoop said Blood Pressure Insights has been in development for several years, and the feature is currently in beta.
Quick takeaways
Ashley Capoot wearing Whoop MG
Ashley Capoot
I got a sneak peek at the Whoop MG, and I’ve been wearing it for the past few days. I can’t speak to what it’s like to wear the device over an extended period, but my initial experience has been largely positive.
From a hardware standpoint, the Whoop MG looks and feels sleeker than the Whoop 4.0, which I tested out in April. The actual sensor is roughly an inch wide, and the band is slightly thinner than that. I’ve found that both the Whoop MG and the Whoop 4.0 are a little hard to take off — you really have to tug on the latch.
The Whoop MG’s setup is very straightforward, and I was up and running on the app in a matter of minutes. With all the new features, there’s a lot of additional data to make sense of, so the app seemed pretty busy to me at first. I felt like I had a better handle on it after a few hours, though, and I haven’t felt pressure to constantly monitor it.
Of the new features, I thought Healthspan was particularly interesting. As a relatively healthy 24-year-old, I noticed I still felt relieved to be “younger” than my age. I’d be curious to see how that feature would change based on my behaviors from week to week.
I also liked the Whoop MG’s detailed sleep tracking and the real-time stress monitor, as stress is something I’ve personally been trying to be more mindful of. I’ve learned that my stress levels really skyrocket while I’m taking public transport, for instance, and adjust accordingly.
After about a dozen tries, I wasn’t able to log a successful ECG reading. I kept getting errors, even after switching wrists and the positioning of my arms. That’s been disappointing, as I’m interested to see my results. The Blood Pressure Insights are neat, and assuming other users can successfully record ECG readings, it’s easy to see the potential benefit. That said, I don’t think I need those features in my daily life yet, so the Whoop Life membership probably wouldn’t be the right pick for me.
I’m not totally sold on the Whoop MG’s aesthetics. I have small hands and wrists, so I always feel like smart devices tend to look clunky on me.
I definitely felt like the Whoop 4.0 was too big for me, but the Whoop MG doesn’t bother me quite as much. That’s just my personal taste, and there are lots of Whoop accessories you can buy to spiff up the device for different occasions.
After just a few days, there’s a lot I can still learn from the Whoop MG, but I feel like I’d personally reach for the Whoop 5.0. The range of membership options helps ensure that users don’t have to break the bank, so I’d feel comfortable recommending Whoop 5.0 and Whoop MG to my friends and family. And for existing Whoop customers who are thinking about an upgrade, the extended battery life alone is worth considering.
WATCH: CEO of fitness tracker company Whoop on $3.6 billion valuation, outlook
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