With Torch, OpenAI has already made two deals this year.
- OpenAI made a string of acquisitions last year, the most prominent being the acquisition of Jony Ive’s design studio.
- The trend highlights OpenAI’s strategy of acquiring capabilities through inorganic expansion to sustain the pace of technological development.
- OpenAI has made two deals already this month.
OpenAI said on Monday that it has acquired health-tech startup Torch, reportedly for $100 million, marking its second acquisition of the year just two weeks into 2026.
Torch uses AI to analyze and unify medical records, helping clinicians and patients better manage healthcare data. OpenAI is subsuming Torch’s technology and team into its ChatGPT Health division, it said.
The ChatGPT operator has been acquiring small and big startups at a rapid clip (see table), often hiring their entire teams and leadership. The strategy is not unusual for large companies, which often pursue inorganic expansion to access new technologies and sustain the pace of product and capability growth.
| Company< | Product & Services< | Deal Size< | Date< |
| Windsurf (formerly Codeium) | AI-assisted coding tools | $3B; reported | May-25 |
| io Products (Jony Ive's startup) | AI hardware design | $6B; reported | May-25 |
| Statsig | Product experimentation, feature flags, analytics tools | $1.1B; all-stock | Sep-25 |
| Roi | Personal finance app | Undisclosed | Oct-25 |
| Sky (Software Applications Incorporated) | AI natural-language interface for macOS | Undisclosed | Oct-25 |
| Neptune (neptune.ai) | Monitoring and de-bugging tools for AI | Undisclosed | Dec-25 |
| Convogo | HR tools | Undisclosed | Jan-26 |
Source: OpenAI blog, media reports<
In December, OpenAI appointed Google veteran Albert Lee to head its corporate development efforts, signaling that the company intends to stay active on the M&A front.
The largest deal for OpenAI recently was the May 2025 acquisition of io, the design studio founded by former Apple chief designer Jony Ive. The high-profile move was widely covered at the time, and OpenAI soon announced plans to use its new resources to develop the company’s first AI gadget.
Few details have been officially shared about the device, but OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently said it would be intuitive, easy to use, and highly personalized. Later, however, a leaker said it might not be a wearable but an AI-powered pen.
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