Nabla vs OpenAI: The Race for AI in Healthcare Accelerates

What happened?

Nabla, the French artificial intelligence startup founded in 2018, has emerged as a direct competitor to OpenAI in the market for virtual assistants in healthcare. According to Sifted, the company has reached over 100,000 active users and is present in more than 100 hospitals, primarily in the United States and Europe. Its flagship product, an AI-based clinical assistant, helps doctors transcribe and summarize consultations, reducing administrative burden and improving the accuracy of medical records. The startup has raised over $100 million in funding, including a $60 million Series B round led by Cathay Innovation. This capital has allowed it to scale rapidly and compete with giants like OpenAI, whose ChatGPT product has been adapted for medical uses, though not in a specialized manner. Nabla currently processes over 1 million consultations per month, and its growth has been exponential: it doubled its user base in the last six months. The company employs over 200 people, with offices in Paris and San Francisco, and its team includes doctors and regulatory compliance experts.

Why is it important?

Healthcare is one of the sectors with the greatest potential for artificial intelligence, but also one of the most regulated and demanding. The competition between Nabla and OpenAI reflects a broader trend: the need for industry-specific solutions rather than generalist models. While OpenAI offers a versatile platform, Nabla has opted for a vertical approach, training its models on clinical data and complying with regulations such as HIPAA in the US and GDPR in Europe. This rivalry is important because it defines how AI will be integrated into everyday medical practice. If Nabla prevails, it could set a precedent for vertical startups in other sectors. Conversely, if OpenAI dominates, it would reinforce the strategy of horizontal platforms. Additionally, the historical context is relevant: in 2023, OpenAI launched ChatGPT Enterprise, which allows customization for industries, but without Nabla's vertical specialization. On the other hand, Nabla also competes with other startups like Suki AI and DeepScribe, which have raised tens of millions. However, Nabla differentiates itself by its focus on regulatory compliance from the start, which has allowed it to integrate into public health systems like the NHS in the UK and private hospitals in the US.

What consequences will it have?

The rivalry will have direct implications for doctors, patients, and the healthcare system as a whole. For doctors, adopting AI assistants can reduce time spent on documentation, which currently consumes up to two hours for every hour of consultation. According to a study by the American Medical Association, administrative burden is a leading cause of burnout among physicians. Nabla claims its assistant reduces documentation time by 70%, allowing doctors to spend more time with patients. For patients, better documentation translates into more accurate diagnoses and fewer errors. However, concerns about data privacy and technological dependency also arise. At the business level, competition could accelerate innovation and reduce costs. But there is also the risk that only a few players dominate the market, limiting the diversity of solutions. Nabla, for its part, plans to expand to more countries and add features such as predictive analytics and treatment recommendations. The startup is also exploring the use of large language models (LLMs) to generate automatic summaries of medical histories, which could revolutionize interoperability between systems. Compared to previous events, such as the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) in the 2010s, AI promises a more seamless integration, but with similar challenges of standardization and acceptance by professionals.

What should readers know?

Readers should understand that AI in healthcare is not a future promise but a present reality. Nabla already processes over 1 million consultations per month, and its technology is being used by public and private health systems. It is crucial for healthcare professionals and policymakers to evaluate these tools not only for their efficiency but also for their safety and equity. For example, Nabla has published studies showing 95% accuracy in transcribing consultations, but biases in minority populations still persist. Moreover, the competition between vertical startups and tech giants is a dynamic that will replicate in other sectors, such as finance or education. The key will be the ability of startups to offer differentiated value and comply with strict regulations. In Nabla's case, its competitive advantage lies in its focus on privacy and customization: its models are trained with anonymized data from each hospital, reducing the risk of leaks. However, OpenAI is also investing in healthcare: in 2024, it launched a HIPAA-certified version of ChatGPT for enterprises. The battle between Nabla and OpenAI in healthcare is a thermometer of how AI will transform entire industries. We will keep an eye on the next moves of both companies, especially funding rounds and strategic alliances. Nabla, for instance, has signed agreements with health systems like Hôpitaux de Paris and Kaiser Permanente, while OpenAI collaborates with Microsoft to integrate its models into Azure Health Bot. The outcome of this competition will define whether AI in healthcare will be dominated by generalist platforms or specialized vertical solutions.