Apple scales back AI health coach project as Eddy Cue pushes for faster innovation

Apple's AI Health Coach Project May Need a Wellness Check

The company's ambitious plans to introduce a virtual health coach may be going back to the drawing board, according to a report. Apple is scaling back and rethinking its ambitious plans to introduce an AI-powered health coach, according to a Bloomberg report by Mark Gurman citing anonymous sources privy to the company's plans. The project, known inside Apple as Mulberry, was first reported last year, with the company expected to roll together health-related AI features as a coach or assistant. But now, Bloomberg reports, that project will be broken down into individual features introduced over time, as it has done with tools such as the sleep apnea and hearing tests added to Apple Watch and Apple AirPods. A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bloomberg's sources point to a change in leadership over Apple's health technology. Veteran services head Eddy Cue is overseeing those projects and addressing pressure from competitors pushing into the health space, including Oura and Peloton as well as tech giants like Google and OpenAI, which just launched ChatGPT Health. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET's parent company, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April, alleging that it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.) Apple was also said to have built a studio for a revamped health services app that would have included virtual and video wellness instructions, and integration with existing health tools and Apple devices. It is likely that some of that content and software will still be released publicly, just not in one package, according to Bloomberg.

Apple Reportedly Drops Plans for AI Doctor in Health App

Apple is no longer working on an AI assistant that can track your health data and provide guidance. The project has been scaled back significantly, and only some of its features will make it to the Health app over time, Bloomberg reports. Before the cutback, Apple reportedly planned to launch the AI-powered health coach as part of a new Health+ subscription. To offer guidance, the service would combine data from devices like the Apple Watch and iPhone with lab reports. For example, if a device tracked a potential heart issue, the AI coach would serve a video explaining the risks of heart disease. It could also chart appropriate diet and exercise plans to reduce the risks. Apple's services chief Eddy Cue took control of the company's health and fitness team last year, and sources tell Bloomberg that he wasn't impressed with the AI doctor, codenamed Mulberry. He reportedly believed that competitors like Oura and Whoop already offer better features through their respective iOS apps. Some of the videos shot for the AI health service will be repurposed and rolled out later this year. They may pop as recommendations based on your existing Health app data, Bloomberg says. Apple won't completely kill the idea of AI-powered health advice, though. The company is rumored to be developing a Siri chatbot, and it may tap into your Health app data before responding to health-related queries, according to Bloomberg. Siri's long-overdue ability to draw context from other apps, meanwhile, is expected to arrive soon with iOS 26.4.

Apple Is Scaling Back Plans for New AI-Based Health Coach Service

Apple Inc. is scaling back plans for a virtual health coach, according to people with knowledge of the matter, part of an effort to rethink how the company approaches the burgeoning market for wellness services. The initiative, code-named Mulberry, was wound down in recent weeks, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the move wasn't public. Apple now plans to take some of the features it had planned for the artificial intelligence-powered offering and roll them out individually over time within its Health app. The decision followed a leadership shift at Apple's health organization, with services chief Eddy Cue taking over the division after longtime executive Jeff Williams retired at the end of last year. Cue has told colleagues that Apple needs to move faster and be more competitive in health, the people said. He added that newer rivals -- including Oura Health Oy and Whoop Inc. -- offer more compelling and useful features, particularly through their iPhone apps. The longtime Apple executive didn't think that the company's existing plan for a new health service met that bar. He's also considering changes to Apple Fitness+, a $9.99-per-month competitor to Peloton Interactive Inc.'s app that offers guided workouts. A spokesperson for Cupertino, California-based Apple declined to comment. Apple is facing tougher competition in the health-tracking market, with Samsung Electronics Co. and fitness platforms like Strava gaining traction. OpenAI has also moved into the space. It recently launched ChatGPT Health to analyze health data, answer questions and provide feedback. Apple, which spent years developing the artificial intelligence-powered service, referred to it internally as Health+. The company had previously aimed to introduce it with the iOS 26 operating system last year, before delaying the launch until spring. It then postponed the debut again until the release of iOS 27, scheduled for September, before the change in plans. The goal was to create a system that could generate detailed health reports and -- for the first time -- deliver AI-driven recommendations to help users improve their well-being. The major new service would have combined new surveys and health assessments with data from Apple Watches and external lab reports. As part of the effort, Apple built a content studio in Oakland, California, to produce videos for the Health app. The programming was designed to explain medical conditions, guide users through training plans and offer wellness education. The video content and some capabilities, such as suggestions based on existing Health app data, will be repurposed and introduced as early as this year. Another feature that remains in the works: using an iPhone camera to analyze and evaluate the way a person walks. The health-coach offering had been a top priority for Sumbul Desai, a physician who leads Apple's health team. She added responsibility for Fitness+ when Cue became her boss last year. Apple has continued to add health features to its devices in recent years -- such as sleep-apnea detection and hypertension notifications -- but those tools primarily flag potential conditions rather than help users actively manage them. It also has a long-running project to develop a noninvasive sensor for reading glucose levels. As part of other health efforts, Apple is working on an AI chatbot that would allow users to ask questions about their well-being. It draws on an internal system known as World Knowledge Answers -- technology that's designed to rival Google's Gemini-powered search results and apps like Perplexity. Longer term, Apple plans to integrate a new Siri chatbot -- set to debut later this year with iOS 27 -- to support more advanced health-related queries across the Health app and its operating systems.

Apple reportedly axed its planned AI health coach

Apple is no longer launching an AI service that can "replicate" a doctor and act as a personal health coach, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The company has reportedly scaled back the unannounced initiative in recent weeks, following a recent organization reshuffling wherein services chief Eddy Cue took over the health division. While Apple has never officially announced the AI health coach, it was reported last year that the company was working on developing the service that has been unofficially dubbed Health+. It was supposed to be able to help users track food and correct workout forms using their iPhone's camera, as well as to recommend lifestyle changes based on users' health data. Apple even reportedly produced videos for the service, including ones explaining medical conditions and some training guides. Cue reportedly wanted Apple to move faster and be more competitive when it comes to its health-focused products, seeing as the most well-known names in the field like Oura are already offering a lot of compelling features on their iOS apps. He didn't think Apple's plans could compete, Bloomberg said. Instead of rolling out an AI health coach as a whole package, Apple will instead release the individual features it has developed to its Health app over time. The videos it shot and the capability to make recommendations based on user data could be available early this year. Apple is also reportedly working on an AI health chatbot to answer wellness questions. It's just an interim solution, however, and the company's goal is to let its reported upcoming Siri chatbot handle those inquiries in the future.

Apple reportedly scales back plans for AI-powered health coach - 9to5Mac

Bloomberg reports that Apple has recently scaled back its plans for the Project Mulberry initiative following a leadership shakeup at the company's health organization. Here are the details. Last year, Bloomberg reported that Apple was looking into Project Mulberry, an initiative that would bring an AI-powered health coach to a revamped Health app. According to the original report, this AI agent was being trained on data from Apple-hired physicians, and would rely on sleep experts, nutritionists, physical therapists, mental health experts, and cardiologists to create educational video content for the Health app. Apple had reportedly built a studio in Oakland, California, to produce this content. From my 9to5Mac's coverage of the original report: These videos will play to help explain concerning health trends to users, and will be recorded in a new facility in Oakland, California, according to Gurman. Apple also wants to find a 'major doctor personality' to serve as a 'host' for the new service. Some inside of Apple are calling this service 'Health+.' Since then, the project (which was reportedly slated to be introduced alongside iOS 26) saw multiple timeline shifts, as Apple's own health and AI divisions underwent multiple organizational changes. On the health side, longtime COO Jeff Williams retired, and oversight of the health and fitness teams was shifted to services chief Eddy Cue. Meanwhile, on the AI side, Apple's senior vice president of Machine Learning and AI Strategy, John Giannandrea, announced he will step down and retire in spring 2026, with much of his organization being folded into the broader software engineering group overseen by Craig Federighi. Fast-forward to today, Bloomberg reports that Eddy Cue wasn't convinced that the company's plans for a new health service were compelling enough against what is currently available from competing companies: Cue has told colleagues that Apple needs to move faster and be more competitive in health, the people said. He added that newer rivals -- including Oura Health Oy and Whoop Inc. -- offer more compelling and useful features, particularly through their iPhone apps. The longtime Apple executive didn't think that the company's existing plan for a new health service met that bar. He's also considering changes to Apple Fitness+, a $9.99-per-month competitor to Peloton Interactive Inc.'s app that offers guided workouts. Bloomberg also notes that despite the change of plans for Project Mulberry, Apple is still looking to roll out some of its planned features individually over time within the Health app, including one that would use the iPhone's camera to analyze how a person walks. As part of other health efforts, Apple is working on an AI chatbot that would allow users to ask questions about their well-being. It draws on an internal system known as World Knowledge Answers -- technology that's designed to rival Google's Gemini-powered search results and apps like Perplexity. Finally, Bloomberg notes that with iOS 27, Apple plans on allowing the revamped Siri "to support more advanced health-related queries across the Health app and its operating systems."

Apple's AI-powered health service is reportedly on life support

Under new leadership from Eddy Cue, some features like data analysis may still integrate into the existing Health app while Apple explores alternative health solutions. A new report from Bloomberg says that the long-in-development subscription health service is on the rocks. The centerpiece of the service, which some have been calling "Health+" was to be an AI wellness and fitness coach, code-named Mulberry. As part of an executive shake-up, with Eddy Cue now heading up Apple's health initiatives after the departure of Jeff Williams last year, the Mulberry AI health coach project has been winding down. Apple has reportedly spent years developing the AI health coach, which would take data from the Health app and connected providers, Apple Watch, and other sources to provide insights and reports about users' health, and also offer actionable recommendations. The service will reportedly use Health app data (from Apple Watch or other sources), new health surveys, and reports from external labs to inform the AI's analysis and recommendations. According to the report, Apple even built a studio in California to produce videos that would explain medical conditions and guide users through wellness plans. The system was originally set to be a part of iOS 26, then got pushed back to a spring release, then bumped again to iOS 27 and watchOS 27 this fall. Now, it seems as if the entire AI health coach project has been put on the back burner, if not scrapped entirely. Services boss Eddy Cue, now in charge of Apple's health efforts, has reportedly told colleagues that "Apple needs to move faster and be more competitive in health," citing features in apps from Ouya and Whoop as more compelling and useful. This could be good news for those with subscription fatigue. The report says that some parts of the project, such as the analysis of Health app data and the video content, could be rolled out this year as regular Health app features. It also mentions that Apple is working on a system to use the iPhone camera for gait analysis. iOS 27 and watchOS 27 are due to be reelased in September, following a preview at WWDC in June.

Apple Scales Back AI Health Coach Plans | PYMNTS.com

By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. Bloomberg reported on Feb. 5 that Apple has wound down the initiative, code-named Mulberry, citing people familiar with the matter. Apple referred to the effort internally as Health+. Instead of launching the coach as a standalone offering, Apple plans to roll out some of the planned features inside the Health app over time. Apple declined to comment. The move followed a leadership shift in Apple's health organization, Bloomberg said. Services chief Eddy Cue took over the division after longtime executive Jeff Williams retired at the end of last year. Cue has told colleagues Apple needs to move faster, and he has pointed to rivals such as Oura and Whoop as offering more compelling features. Cue is also weighing changes to Apple Fitness+, the company's $9.99-a-month guided workout subscription. Bloomberg said Apple had delayed the coach more than once, first targeting iOS 26 and later pushing it to iOS 27, scheduled for September. The service was designed to generate health reports and provide AI-driven recommendations using surveys and assessments, paired with Apple Watch data and external lab reports. Apple built a content studio in Oakland, California, to produce videos for the Health app. Bloomberg said Apple will repurpose some of that video content and features such as suggestions based on existing Health app data, potentially as soon as this year. Another feature still in the works uses an iPhone camera to analyze how a person walks. Competition is rising. Bloomberg said Samsung is gaining traction in health tracking, and OpenAI has launched "ChatGPT Health" to analyze data and provide feedback. Apple is also working on an AI chatbot for health questions and expects a future Siri chatbot to handle more advanced health queries, Bloomberg reported. In a 2024 Apple press release, Apple health vice president Sumbul Desai said: "At Apple, we believe that technology can help you live a healthier life, and we're excited to enable incredible new health capabilities."

Apple delays AI Health Coach, shifts focus to Health App features: Report

Apple is scaling back its plans for a virtual AI-based health coach, according to people familiar with the matter. The initiative, code-named Mulberry, was recently wound down, with Apple now planning to release select features individually over time within its Health app, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported. The project, internally referred to as Health+, aimed to provide AI-driven health recommendations for the first time, combining surveys, health assessments, Apple Watch data, and external lab reports. The service was initially scheduled to launch with iOS 26, then delayed to iOS 27, before Apple revised its strategy. Services chief Eddy Cue, who took over the health division after Jeff Williams retired, told colleagues that Apple needs to move faster and compete more effectively in the health space, as rivals such as Oura Health, Whoop, Samsung, and Strava offer features that are considered more compelling and useful. Apple set up a content studio in Oakland, California, to produce Health app videos covering medical conditions, wellness guidance, and training plans. Some of this content, along with features such as suggestions based on existing Health app data, will be rolled out later this year. Another feature still under development is gait analysis using the iPhone camera. Apple continues to expand device health capabilities, including sleep-apnea detection, hypertension notifications, and long-term efforts to develop a noninvasive glucose monitoring sensor. Apple is developing an AI chatbot using its internal World Knowledge Answers system, allowing users to ask health-related questions and receive guidance. This system is designed to compete with Google's Gemini and apps like Perplexity. Additionally, a new Siri chatbot, scheduled to debut with iOS 27, will support more advanced health interactions across the Health app and Apple's operating systems.