OpenAI wants to ‘have their cake and eat it too’ with health AI policy recommendations – STAT

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By Brittany Trang
May 6, 2026
Health Tech Reporter
Brittany Trang
Brittany Trang, Ph.D., covers AI in health and medicine: Does it actually work? Who benefits, or might be harmed? She writes the weekly AI Prognosis newsletter. Follow her on Threads, Mastodon, and Bluesky. You can reach Brittany on Signal at btrang.01.
So far, artificial intelligence company OpenAI’s work in health care has been largely limited to nonregulated areas. In January, the company released ChatGPT Health for consumers. Then, it launched ChatGPT for Healthcare for hospitals, followed by ChatGPT for Clinicians. 
Along with the launch of its chatbot for clinicians last month, OpenAI also published a wish list that the company described as a blueprint for unlocking AI’s potential to change the broader health care system. The policy proposals outlined in the document, experts told STAT, are somewhat reasonable, but they also disproportionately benefit the company. 
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“They’re trying to have their cake and eat it too,” said David Blumenthal, a former national coordinator for health IT and a health policy professor at Harvard University. “They’re trying to potentially sound like responsible parties in the current conversation while at the same time wanting the markets to stay open for their products.”
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Brittany Trang
Health Tech Reporter
Brittany Trang, Ph.D., covers AI in health and medicine: Does it actually work? Who benefits, or might be harmed? She writes the weekly AI Prognosis newsletter. Follow her on Threads, Mastodon, and Bluesky. You can reach Brittany on Signal at btrang.01.
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