Google is giving Fitbit’s AI health coach access to your medical records, a move that puts the wearable giant squarely in the race to become your personal health AI. The Verge AI reports that starting next month in preview, US Fitbit users will be able to link their medical records directly to the Fitbit app.
The idea is straightforward: combine your wearable data (steps, heart rate, sleep) with your actual medical history (lab results, medications, visit records) to deliver health advice that’s actually relevant to you.
“Instead of getting a generic answer about cholesterol, you can ask, ‘How can I improve my cholesterol?'” Google health intelligence product management director Florence Thng said in a blog post. “The coach can then summarize your cholesterol labs, highlighting notable values and trends, and provide personalized wellness information based on your medical history and wearable data.”
What’s new
- Medical record integration: Lab results, medications, and visit history linked to the Fitbit app, feeding the AI coach alongside wearable data
- Sharing features: In the coming months, users will be able to share records and AI summaries with family or doctors via link or QR code
- Sleep tracking upgrade: Google calls it “our most significant update yet”, 15% more accurate, better at distinguishing sleep from lying awake. Rolling out in preview now, with an improved sleep score coming in weeks
The privacy question
Google is making the standard reassurances: medical records won’t be used for ads, users control how their data is used, shared, or deleted. But a small disclaimer at the bottom of the announcement tells a different story about confidence levels. Google notes its demos are “illustrative” and that Fitbit “is not intended to use your medical records to diagnose, treat, cure, prevent, or monitor any disease or condition.”
That’s the tension every company in this space is navigating right now.
Why this matters
Google isn’t acting in a vacuum here. Amazon, OpenAI, and Microsoft are all betting that users will trade their most sensitive health data for better AI-powered advice, according to The Verge AI. Oura and Whoop already use dedicated chatbots to personalize recommendations. Both Anthropic and OpenAI explicitly encourage users to share health data with their chatbots.
What makes the Fitbit play interesting is the combination. Most AI health tools have either your conversation history or your wearable data. Fitbit’s coach, powered by Gemini, would have your wearable metrics, your medical records, and the conversational interface to tie it all together. That’s a significantly richer picture of your health than any single source provides.
The regulatory tightrope
Companies in this space all claim their products don’t diagnose or treat, no matter how their AI actually responds. That puts them on a fine line with regulators like the FDA. Many AI health products still aren’t available in regions with strict privacy laws like Europe. And experts warn users to be careful about what they share, particularly with sensitive categories like reproductive health data in the US.
🧭 What comes next
This is US-only and preview-only for now, with no pricing details beyond the existing Fitbit Premium subscription. The medical records feature launches next month, sleep tracking improvements are rolling out now.
Health AI is quickly becoming one of the most crowded and consequential battlegrounds in tech. Google’s move with Fitbit signals that the company sees wearables not just as step counters, but as the front door to a much deeper health relationship with users. Whether people are comfortable walking through that door with their medical records in hand is the real question. More details are available in the original report from The Verge AI.