Babylon Health

Babylon Health was a digital-first health service provider founded in 2013 with the mission of putting "affordable and accessible healthcare into the hands of every human on Earth." The platform offered a suite of AI-driven tools, including a symptom checker and a triage bot that guided users based on their reported symptoms. One of its most prominent services was GP at Hand, a mobile app that allowed users to book video consultations with doctors, often within minutes. While the company achieved massive scale, serving millions of users in the UK, US, and Rwanda, it also faced significant controversy regarding the clinical accuracy and safety of its AI chatbot, with some medical professionals questioning its claimed diagnostic superiority. At its peak, Babylon was valued at billions of dollars and listed on the New York Stock Exchange. However, following financial difficulties, the company's US branch filed for bankruptcy in August 2023, and its UK operations were subsequently sold and rebranded under the name eMed. Despite its collapse, Babylon remains a landmark in the history of digital health, demonstrating the massive potential—and the significant regulatory challenges—of using AI to scale primary care globally.