If you read OpenAI’s recent announcement about ChatGPT Health, you might wonder why an AI company under immense financial pressure is venturing into the health business. The answer is buried in the announcement, obscured by an excessive amount of privacy theatre.
Privacy Theatre
What struck me most about OpenAI’s blog post is how much effort they put into reassuring users about privacy. They go out of their way to explain that the experience is private, that it’s secure, that they’ve gone above and beyond industry standards. The message between the lines is clear: don’t worry, you’re safe, we have your back.
This is a strange message coming from OpenAI. Their track record on privacy has been abysmal. On the free tier of ChatGPT, there is no privacy by default. Even on the paid Plus and Pro plans, you don’t get privacy by default. You can opt in to chat history privacy, but that’s just one aspect of it. Actual privacy is listed as a selling point for the Enterprise plan. It’s what you pay extra for.
So when OpenAI suddenly positions itself as a privacy-first company for ChatGPT Health, we should be skeptical. This is a reminder that even if you are paying for the product, you can still end up as the product in a multi-tiered market.
Follow the Money
OpenAI is a company facing projected losses of $115-143 billion through 2029. They are under immense pressure to monetize everything they can. So ask yourself: why is OpenAI going into the health business? Is it benevolence? Did they suddenly realize they can do a lot of good in the health space?
I ruled that out immediately.
The real answer becomes clearer when you look at what ChatGPT Health actually does. According to OpenAI’s announcement, the product helps users “understand the tradeoffs of different insurance options based on your healthcare patterns.” It connects to your medical records, wellness apps like Peloton and Weight Watchers, and health data from Apple Health. It creates a comprehensive profile of your health status, behaviors, and needs.
This isn’t just a health assistant. This is infrastructure for a healthcare marketplace.
The b.well Connection
OpenAI partnered with b.well Connected Health to power the medical records connectivity for ChatGPT Health. Understanding who b.well is reveals a lot about OpenAI’s intentions.
b.well is a B2B company whose primary clients are health plans and insurance companies. Their marketing to health plans promises to help insurers “get to know your members even before the first claim” and deliver “proactive, scalable, personalized member experiences.” Their services include helping insurers with population health management and risk assessment.
The company’s founder previously served as VP at UnitedHealthcare, one of the largest health insurers in the United States.
This is not a consumer advocacy company. This is a company built to serve the healthcare industry, particularly payers and insurers. And this is who OpenAI chose to power the data infrastructure for ChatGPT Health.
A Multi-Tiered Marketplace
ChatGPT Health is shaping up to be a multi-tiered marketplace with different types of players. There are healthcare providers who can gain access to potential patients. There are wellness companies like Weight Watchers and Peloton that are already integrated. And there are insurance companies who stand to benefit most from access to detailed health profiles.
The announcement even includes a quote from a partner describing themselves as “the number one health care company for consumers.” Pay attention to that word: consumers. Not patients. Not people. Not individuals. Consumers are people who buy things. This language reveals the commercial nature of what’s being built.
OpenAI is positioning itself as the intermediary between individuals seeking health guidance and an ecosystem of companies eager to sell them products and services. The health data you share becomes the currency that powers this marketplace.
The HIPAA Gap
Here’s what makes this particularly dangerous: your health data shared with ChatGPT Health likely doesn’t fall under HIPAA protection.
HIPAA, the primary US law protecting health information, only applies to covered entities like doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies. When you share health information directly with a technology company like OpenAI, those protections don’t apply. OpenAI is not your doctor. They’re not bound by the same legal obligations to protect your health information.
This means OpenAI’s privacy commitments for ChatGPT Health rest entirely on their own policies and user agreements, which can change at any time. Given the company’s financial pressures and its track record on privacy, this should concern anyone considering sharing their medical records with the service.
The Geographic Tell
One detail that speaks volumes: OpenAI has excluded the European Union, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom from ChatGPT Health. These are regions with the strongest data protection laws in the world, including the GDPR.
If ChatGPT Health were truly built with privacy as a priority, it would launch in these markets. The fact that OpenAI is avoiding jurisdictions with strict privacy enforcement suggests the product cannot meet meaningful privacy standards. They’re launching where the regulatory environment is more permissive.
What This Means for You
OpenAI is building a system that collects the most sensitive data you possess, health information, and places it outside traditional legal protections. They’re partnering with a company whose business model serves insurance companies. They’re creating a platform where healthcare providers and insurers can reach users with detailed health profiles. And they’re wrapping all of this in privacy theatre designed to overcome your hesitation about sharing sensitive data.
The classic internet adage says that if you’re not paying for the product, you are the product. ChatGPT showed us that even this formulation is too optimistic. You can pay for ChatGPT Plus or even Pro and still end up as the product. Your health data, your patterns, your needs become inventory in a marketplace you never agreed to join.
When a company under massive financial pressure suddenly builds infrastructure to aggregate health data, partner with payer-focused healthcare companies, and facilitate insurance comparisons, the business model becomes clear. ChatGPT Health isn’t a consumer product. It’s a new marketplace where healthcare providers and insurers can reach you with unprecedented precision.
And in that marketplace, you are what’s being sold.