Health | The Verge

Google’s taking a big swing at AI health with the Fitbit Air

2026-05-07T18:13:01-04:00

It's a Whoop dupe. That was my first thought when I saw the new $99 Google Fitbit Air. You can hardly blame me. The band is screenless with a metallic fabric clasp. My eyes flickered between the Fitbit Air and my wrist, where I'm wearing a Whoop MG. Was I not seeing double?

But as my press briefing went on, my opinion started changing. The Air is sort of like the OG Fitbits that Whoop then duped once Fitbit went all in on smartwatches. Think back to 2012, when the Fitbit One could clip to your pants, be turned into a pendant, or dangle from a keychain. That device was mostly a pedometer, whereas the Air is more of a modern, modular sensor t …

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My $5K smart bed needs to shut the hell up

2026-05-01T16:39:34-04:00

This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent every Friday from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest gizmos and potions that swear they're going to change your life. Opt in for Optimizer here.

I take my beauty rest seriously. So seriously that, after months of testing, I bought my ludicrously expensive Eight Sleep Pod 4 Ultra review unit. It had a lot of things going for it. It kept my spouse's side of the bed cool and mine toasty. That, in turn, convinced my aloof cats to curl on my side at night. It improved my marriage by dramatically reducing my spouse's sonorous snoring. What more could I possibly wa …

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Oura adds birth control support to its period tracker

2026-05-01T06:24:52-04:00

Here’s an example of what the new Hormonal Birth Control support will look like when it rolls out on May 6th. | Image: Oura

Oura is launching a new reproductive health feature that takes hormonal contraception into consideration when tracking period cycles. The smart ring maker describes the Hormonal Birth Control update as a "first-of-its-kind experience" inside Oura's existing Cycle Insights feature, allowing users to see how over 20 combinations of hormonal birth control methods - including pills, patches, IUDs, and implants - can affect their overall biometric data.

The feature will begin rolling out globally on May 6th. It's designed to show the impact that hormonal contraception may have on temperature patterns, sleep, and recovery, and can help users to t …

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Spotify is partnering with Peloton for guided workouts

2026-04-27T07:18:12-04:00

Spotify has dabbled in customized running playlists, but now it's diving more firmly into the fitness space with curated playlists and content from creators like Yoga with Kassandra, Sweaty Studio, Chloe Ting, and Pilates Body by Raven. Not only that, but Premium subscribers will have access to over 1,400 classes from Peloton.

Spotify has already expanded well beyond its music roots, with audiobooks, podcasts, and video. So moving into fitness and wellness doesn't seem like a big stretch, especially since there are plenty of playlists out there built around exercise. But it does further crowd an already messy app.

Users will now have acces …

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I don’t think Gwyneth Paltrow knows what a peptide is

2026-04-24T10:26:03-04:00

She’s definitely heard of a peptide. I don’t know if she understands what they are. | Photo: Getty Images

These days, it seems I cannot escape peptides. Online, I've been assaulted by videos of shirtless Chads injecting dubiously sourced bottles of the so-called "Wolverine stack." On the New York City subway, I'm haunted by Serena Williams' Ro ads for easy GLP-1 access. Silicon Valley seems to be a parade of peptide parties. In Washington, RFK Jr. has said he's pro-peptide and wants to expand access. In July, the FDA wi …

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Wearable health tech might be Tim Cook’s greatest legacy

2026-04-21T13:07:54-04:00

The Apple Watch was the first new product in the post-Jobs era.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Granted, 19th-century proverb writers were talking about the fruit, but Tim Cook helped give new meaning to the adage with the release of the very first Apple Watch. In fact, I'd argue that when he hands the reins to John Ternus in September, it won't be iPhones, Macs, AirPods, or the Vision Pro that defines Cook's legacy. It'll be how the Apple Watch set the course for modern health tech.

You don't have to take my word for it. In 2019, Cook himself told told Mad Money host Jim Cramer, "…If you zoom out into the future, and you look back, and you ask the question, 'What was Apple's greatest contribution …

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Continuous glucose monitoring made me continuously crazy

2026-04-08T07:01:19-04:00

Continuous glucose monitors — also referred to as glucose biosensors — aren’t just for diabetics anymore.

Daily life is different when you're tracking glucose. A little over a year ago, I was on my way to a conference. My bags were packed, the Uber was on its way, but there was one last thing to do before I could head to the airport. Tearing open a small isopropyl alcohol wipe, I cleaned the skin on the back of my arm. After that, I applied a small applicator to the clean skin, doing my best to ignore the visible needle inside. I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed a button. It made a ka-thunk. I repeated the process on the other arm.

In my right arm, I now had a Dexcom Stelo. In the left, an Abbott Lingo. Both were over-the-counter continuous g …

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Gemini is making it faster for distressed users to reach mental health resources

2026-04-07T06:09:57-04:00

Google says it has updated Gemini to better direct users to get mental health resources during moments of crisis. The change comes as the tech giant faces a wrongful death lawsuit alleging its chatbot "coached" a man to die by suicide, the latest in a string of lawsuits alleging tangible harm from AI products.

When a conversation indicates a user is in a potential crisis related to suicide or self-harm, Gemini already launches a "Help is available" module that directs users to mental health crisis resources, like a suicide hotline or crisis text line. Google says the update - really more of a redesign - will streamline this into a "one-touc …

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Chatbots are now prescribing psychiatric drugs

2026-04-03T09:09:04-04:00

Utah is allowing an AI system to prescribe psychiatric drugs without a doctor. It's only the second time the state - and the country - has delegated this kind of clinical authority to AI. State officials say it could bring costs down and ease care shortages, but physicians warn the system is opaque, risky, and unlikely to expand mental health care to those who need it.

The one-year pilot, announced last week, will allow Legion Health's AI chatbot to renew certain prescriptions for psychiatric medications, in some cases. The San Francisco startup promises Utah-based patients "fast, simple refills" through a $19-a-month subscription. The prog …

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It’s not easy to get depression-detecting AI through the FDA

2026-04-02T11:33:23-04:00

For the past seven years, the California-based startup Kintsugi has been developing AI designed to detect signs of depression and anxiety from a person's speech. But after failing to secure FDA clearance in time, the company is shutting down and releasing most of its technology as open-source. Some elements may even find a second life beyond healthcare, like detecting deepfake audio.

Mental health assessments still largely rely on patient questionnaires and clinical interviews, rather than the lab tests or scans common in physical medicine. Instead of focusing on what someone is saying, Kintsugi's software analyzes how it is being said. Th …

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