Google wants to be your go-to fitness coach and wellness advisor, even if you have an Apple Watch.
The tech giant announced a slew of health updates Thursday centered around its AI coach. It’s part of a broader strategy to compete with OpenAI, Microsoft and a wave of other technology companies that are racing to dominate how people learn about their health.
For Google, the key is to expand beyond its existing customer base of Fitbit and Pixel Watch owners. The company is betting that its AI health assistant in the new Google Health app, announced Thursday, will attract Apple Watch, Oura Ring, and Garmin watch users, as well as users who don’t own a health tracker at all.
Google lags behind Apple, Samsung and Chinese tech giants Xiaomi and Huawei in the global wearable technology market, according to market research firm International Data Corporation. However, the latest updates suggest that Google is more focused on competing with OpenAI and Microsoft on the health front than dominating the smartwatch market. In the AI race, consumers are increasingly turning to ChatGPT for health-related questions.
“Today’s athletes do this with their entire team…they have nutritionists, sleep coaches, fitness trainers,” said Rishi Chandra, general manager of Google Health. “Why can’t we all have something equivalent to this? And that’s what health coaches are really about.”
Some medical institutions, including the Mayo Clinic and Duke University School of Medicine, have warned that AI can be inaccurate. They argue that AI tools may not be able to provide the necessary context and lack the ability to reason and perform tests like medical professionals.
Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft say their products are not intended for medical use or to replace doctors.
Google will update the Fitbit app to the new Google Health app starting May 19th. The app includes Google’s AI Health Coach, powered by the company’s Gemini model, which provides an overview of the health records users choose to share, a personalized weekly fitness plan, and a chatbot that answers questions about users’ fitness and medical data. The company is also launching a new Fitbit wristband called Fitbit Air. It has no screen and is intended for use with new apps.
The AI coach also notices people’s sleep and training trends and summarizes them in an app. For example, biometrics from a Fitbit or Google Pixel wearable can flag that a user’s 4-mile run contributed to their weekly 20-mile goal, or that a user is more rested by getting a few extra hours of sleep.
Many features require a subscription to Google Health Premium, which is separate from Google’s other paid AI plans. A preview version of AI Helper has been available in the Fitbit app since October.
Chandra said Google is actively looking at ways to integrate its AI health coach with tools that share health data between different apps, such as Health Connect for Android and Health Kit for Apple.
The Google Health app already integrates with data from other apps and devices, but the AI assistant it includes is currently only available on Pixel Watch and Fitbit products. Google said it is working on adding AI coaching support to Google Health for Apple Watch and other devices later this year.
“That’s my goal,” Chandra said. “That means you have the freedom to decide what hardware you need.”
Sharing data between apps could put tech giants at the forefront of how consumers use AI. According to an April survey from the West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America, one in four U.S. adults say they use AI for healthcare research and advice, often before or after a doctor’s visit. OpenAI announced earlier this year that 230 million people use ChatGPT every week for health-related questions.
And competition is fierce. Samsung, smart ring maker Oura, and fitness tracking wristband company Whoop have all added AI-generated observations and tips to their apps in recent years.
Microsoft took a similar approach to Google in March when it launched Copilot Health, which uses AI to identify trends in data from wearable devices and health records. In January, OpenAI introduced ChatGPT Health, part of an app that connects medical records and data from wellness apps.
For Google, allowing its AI coaches to access data from other devices could be key to gaining a competitive edge in the health space.
“We want to meet users where they are,” Chandra said. “Apple Watch lovers: That’s great. That’s great. Let’s work together.”
