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The AI Doctor Gold Rush
NEWSLETTER • ISSUE 110
The AI Doctor Gold Rush
AI doctors are the next gold rush. The difference is scale.
Hey Doc,
On Friday morning, Moana sent me a photo of a puppy. My son fell in love on the spot. We decided to adopt her and drove 10 hours to bring her home. This morning, she woke up in her new home for the first time. What a feeling.
Writing about AI doctors this week, I kept wondering: would we ever accept an AI dog?
As always, happy Sunday evening!
Dr. David Luu, Founder, longevitydocs™
Each week, I try to explore one idea that could advance longevity medicine and hopefully support physicians in bringing it to life. For my full perspective, read the full issue on Substack
or news.longevitydocs.org
The AI Doctor Gold Rush
Some of the best-known names in tech are betting that AI will take over much of what physicians do. The race to build AI doctors is on. Physicians should build AI that makes medicine better.
The prediction
In 2012, Vinod Khosla predicted machines would replace about 80% of what doctors do. In August, in JAMA, he and his son Neal Khosla, CEO of AI primary care company Curai Health, argued with bioethicist Zeke Emanuel that autonomous AI will likely outperform physicians, including physicians using AI, at core tasks from diagnosis to treatment, and could be ready for some, maybe many, workflows by 2030. In 2025, Elon Musk predicted robots would surpass the best human surgeons within five years.
We’ve heard this before. In 2016, Geoffrey Hinton said we should stop training radiologists. A decade later, demand for radiologists remains strong, and their average pay reached $571,000 in 2025. AI didn’t eliminate the need for radiologists.
Patients moved first
We went from Dr. Google to Dr. ChatGPT. Many patients now come in having already asked a chatbot about their symptoms. OpenAI says more than 200 million people ask ChatGPT a health question every week. The AI doctor companies didn’t create that habit. They’re building a business on it.
The rush
In January, I wrote that the AI doctor had been born. Nine months later, it’s raising Series B rounds.
Medvi was built in two months with $20,000 and more than a dozen AI tools. It reported $401 million in sales in 2025 and projects $1.8 billion in 2026, run by two people: founder Matthew Gallagher and his brother. Prescribing, pharmacy and shipping are outsourced to partners. Its support chatbot sometimes invented drug prices, and in February the FDA sent it a warning letter over how it markets compounded GLP-1s.
Nolla Health received regulatory relief under Utah’s AI sandbox to let its AI go from a face scan to a prescription for adult acne, choosing from eight topical drugs, with physician review stepping down to a weekly sample over time. Next on its roadmap: women’s health and cardiometabolic care.
Doctronic can renew prescriptions for 190 medications in a Utah pilot, with malpractice insurance that covers its AI.
General Medicine, from the PillPack founders, raised $120 million in October to build an online store for healthcare.
Function Health lets members connect their lab results to ChatGPT and Claude, has announced a connection to Meta’s Muse, and is building its own medical AI. I called this the biomarker gold rush last year.
These are different businesses. But they are moving in the same direction: more of medicine delivered through a platform, with less physician involvement.
We’ve seen this movie
I’ve watched this pattern four times in longevity medicine: clinics, testing, hormones, peptides. Each time there was real demand, fast capital, marketing ahead of the evidence, and standards that came later.
AI doctors are the next gold rush. The difference is scale. A bad clinic harms its own patients. A flawed algorithm can repeat the same error with every patient it sees, and in some cases it now writes the prescription.
A flawed algorithm can repeat the same error with every patient it sees, and in some cases it now writes the prescription.
Dr. David Luu, MD · Founder, longevitydocs™The strongest argument for autonomous AI is access. Patients who cannot get care need better options. But access alone does not tell us whether a system is safe.
Keep reading on longevitydocs™ News: what the first real-patient study of an AI doctor showed, where I draw the line between an AI doctor and a doctor’s AI, and six moves I’d make in your practice now.
Keep reading
-
How We Will Practice Medicine by 2030
Last week's issue: eight ARDD 2026 speakers on the five shifts coming to clinical care. -
10 AI Tools Every Longevity Doctor Needs Right Now
The AI tools physicians are already using in longevity practice. -
How to Run a Longevity Clinic From Your Phone
What a mobile, software-led longevity practice looks like for physicians.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the AI doctor gold rush?
It is Dr. David Luu's term for the race to build AI doctors. Companies such as Medvi, Nolla Health, Doctronic, General Medicine and Function Health run different businesses, but they are moving in the same direction: more of medicine delivered through a platform, with less physician involvement.
Will AI replace physicians by 2030?
In an August JAMA article, Vinod Khosla and Neal Khosla argued with bioethicist Zeke Emanuel that autonomous AI will likely outperform physicians at core tasks from diagnosis to treatment and could be ready for some workflows by 2030. Dr. David Luu notes that similar predictions have missed before: in 2016 Geoffrey Hinton said to stop training radiologists, yet demand for radiologists remains strong and their average pay reached $571,000 in 2025.
Can AI write prescriptions today?
In limited pilots, yes. Under Utah's AI regulatory sandbox, Nolla Health's AI can go from a face scan to a prescription for adult acne, choosing from eight topical drugs, with physician review stepping down to a weekly sample over time. Doctronic can renew prescriptions for 190 medications in a Utah pilot, with malpractice insurance that covers its AI.
How many people ask ChatGPT health questions?
OpenAI says more than 200 million people ask ChatGPT a health question every week. Many patients now arrive at clinic having already asked a chatbot about their symptoms, and AI doctor companies are building businesses on that habit.
Why are AI doctors riskier than earlier longevity medicine booms?
Dr. David Luu has watched the same pattern four times in longevity medicine: clinics, testing, hormones and peptides, each with real demand, fast capital, marketing ahead of the evidence and standards that came later. The difference with AI doctors is scale. A bad clinic harms its own patients, while a flawed algorithm can repeat the same error with every patient it sees.
Is better access a strong enough case for autonomous AI doctors?
Access is the strongest argument for autonomous AI, because patients who cannot get care need better options. Dr. David Luu argues that access alone does not show whether a system is safe, and that physicians should build AI that makes medicine better.
What is longevitydocs™?
longevitydocs™ is the intelligence network for longevity medicine. A vetted network of 1,000+ licensed physicians in 68+ countries, founded by pediatric cardiac surgeon Dr. David Luu, that trains, certifies, connects, and conducts research with doctors practicing longevity medicine. The network runs the Lexicon, the Directory, the Masterminds, the annual Summit and the Certified longevitydocs™ (CLD) credential.
How do I apply for longevitydocs™ membership?
Apply on the membership page at longevitydocs.org/pages/apply-membership. Membership is open to licensed MD, DO and MBBS holders, and every application is reviewed manually to confirm credentials.
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About Dr. David Luu, MD.™ Dr. David Luu, MD, is the Founder of longevitydocs™. He is a trained pediatric cardiac surgeon, longevity tech entrepreneur, and philanthropist who helps physicians, organizations, and leaders build the global infrastructure of longevity medicine. About longevitydocs™ longevitydocs™ is the intelligence network for longevity medicine. A vetted network of 1,000+ licensed physicians in 68+ countries, founded by pediatric cardiac surgeon Dr. David Luu, that trains, certifies, connects, and conducts research with doctors practicing longevity medicine.
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