Harvard Medical School Partners with Microsoft to License Consumer Health Content

"According to Harvard University, the deal was made through Harvard Health Publishing, the medical school's consumer health division, and includes content on a wide range of diseases, conditions, and wellness topics. Microsoft will pay Harvard a licensing fee, though financial details were not disclosed. The Wall Street Journal first reported the agreement, noting that the collaboration will bolster Microsoft's Copilot AI assistant with authoritative medical and wellness information."

"While Copilot currently relies heavily on OpenAI's large language models to power features across Word, Outlook, and other applications, the company has begun integrating models from Anthropic's Claude and developing its own proprietary systems. By partnering with Harvard Medical School, Microsoft gains access to vetted, medically reviewed data that can help improve the accuracy and trustworthiness of Copilot's health-related outputs - a critical factor as AI-generated content faces growing scrutiny from regulators and consumers alike."

Harvard Medical School licensed its consumer health content through Harvard Health Publishing to Microsoft, granting access to information on diseases, conditions, and wellness topics. Microsoft will pay a licensing fee, with financial terms undisclosed, and plans to integrate the content into the latest Copilot release to provide more accurate health-related responses. The partnership supports Microsoft's effort to diversify AI sources beyond OpenAI by incorporating models from Anthropic and developing proprietary systems. Access to vetted, medically reviewed data aims to improve trustworthiness of AI outputs amid regulatory and consumer scrutiny. Harvard Health Publishing frames the deal as expanding access to trusted medical knowledge.

Read at Medium