Key takeaways on what ChatGPT Health launch signals for wellness
- OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health, integrating AI with personal health data.
- Collaboration with 260 doctors ensures clinically informed responses.
- Users can link medical records and wellness apps for tailored advice.
- Many of the world’s most prominent beauty and wellness companies showcase technology innovations at CES 2026.
- Mintel predicts ‘Metabolic Beauty’ trend in 2026 will merge tech, health, and beauty.
According to Open AI, health is already one of the most common ways people use ChatGPT. The firm said it has aimed to “build on the strong privacy, security, and data controls across ChatGPT with additional, layered protections designed specifically for health – including purpose-built encryption and isolation to keep health conversations protected and compartmentalised.”
It also said that the tool has been designed in collaboration with more than 260 doctors who have practised in 60 countries and dozens of specialties to understand what makes an answer to a health question helpful or potentially harmful.
“This physician-led approach is built directly into the model that powers health, which is evaluated against clinical standards using HealthBench, an assessment framework we created with input from our network of practising physicians,” OpenAI explained in a press statement. “Rather than relying on exam-style questions or generic accuracy checks, HealthBench evaluates responses using physician-written rubrics that reflect how clinicians judge quality in practice – prioritising safety, clarity, appropriate escalation of care, and respect for individual context.”
The firm added that users will be able to connect medical records and wellness apps like Apple Health, Function, and MyFitnessPal for ChatGPT to help understand recent test results, prepare for appointments, and get advice on how to approach diet and fitness routines.
Metabolic Beauty: Mintel’s forecast for tech-driven skincare
The news comes as the link between technology and the health, wellness and beauty industries becomes stronger than ever before.
Just this week at the annual Consumer Electronics Show, many of the world’s biggest beauty and personal care manufacturers have showcased their technological innovations. When brought to market, many of these will give new levels of personalisation for beauty shoppers when they come to choosing new products.
In October 2025, market intelligence agency Mintel forecast a trend for 2026 dubbed ‘Metabolic Beauty’, which it said signals a new era where health, technology, and personalisation converge.
According to the firm, while wellness culture and preventative care are already well-established concepts, the focus on cellular health and the integration of advanced technologies are now reframing these ideas as scientific realities.
“Advances in biomarker testing, metabolic monitoring, and bio-intelligent tech are reaching mainstream accessibility, enabling tailored solutions for energy, hydration, and cellular repair,” explained Mintel’s Director of Beauty & Personal Care Insights, Andrew McDougall, in an interview with Cosmetics Design.
The company predicts that by 2030, skin and hair will be recognised as the body’s most accessible biomarkers. It also expects that beauty brands will compete with health and wellness providers as trusted gatekeepers of preventative care. “Moisturisers, serums, and supplements will no longer be seen as indulgent cosmetic enhancers, but as diagnostic tools reflecting inner health — reframing beauty purchases as personalised, proof-driven ‘insurance’," said McDougall.
As this merge between beauty, science, and technology continues, McDougall expects to see:
- Co-development between beauty brands, longevity clinics, and digital health platforms to validate outcomes and build compliant claims frameworks.
- Ingredient pipelines flowing from biotech and life sciences (e.g. exosome-inspired delivery, senolytic concepts, microbiome modulators) into prestige and masstige.
- Shared data standards and provenance tech (watermarks, digital passports) to protect IP, trials imagery, and before/after evidence in a deepfake era.
- This is driven by consumer demand for ‘clinically proven’ and ‘science-backed’ and by the need to translate lab biomarkers into visible, consumer-meaningful outcomes.
“As people become more scientifically literate, they seek credible proof – a phenomenon amplified by attribution bias,” he said. “They want to attribute their results to a specific, validated cause. This demand for proof forces collaboration between beauty brands, which excel at consumer experience, and biotech or digital health firms, which provide the diagnostic validation.”
