Slingshot AI reveals new therapy bot, funding

Earlier this year, Andreessen Horowitz announced it was backing a company called Slingshot AI with the provocative mission to build "the world's first foundation model for psychology." Today, the company is officially launching its therapy chatbot, called Ash. It also announced over $50 million in additional funding led by Radical Ventures and Forerunner Ventures. The startup has now raised $93 million.

Slingshot is perhaps the most aggressive company pursuing the opportunity to use generative AI to address mental health. In a new story, I spoke to CEO Daniel Cahn and clinical lead Derrick Hull about the company's model, its approach to safety, and its vision for the future of mental health care.

Nobel causes

Baker lab's new protein AI & DeepMind to fund CASP

Two new stories from STAT's Brittany Trang highlight uses of artificial intelligence to advance the understanding of biology.

DeepMind has stepped in to temporarily fund CASP, the protein structure competition that launched its AlphaFold model to international fame — and a Nobel Prize. The contest's funding from the National Institutes of Health runs out in August.
Two recent studies from University of Washington professor and Nobel laureate David Baker, along with colleagues, detail new methods for drugging disordered proteins that don't play by the usual rules of structural biology. (Read this one for the fun descriptions of proteins as pasta shapes!)

telehealth

Medicare advisors release fresh telehealth data

According to newly published data from a 2024 survey by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission:

One-third of Medicare enrollees reported using a telehealth service in the past year, compared to 36% of privately insured people aged 50 to 64. For context, according to 2023 claims data from Medicare, 25% of enrollees used a telehealth service. There are a number of possible reasons for the gap between those numbers.
44% of Medicare enrollees are interested in having a telehealth option, compared to 61% of privately insured people in the 50 to 64 age bracket.
90% or more of telehealth users reported being satisfied with their visits.
"Telehealth visits were more commonly used by Medicare beneficiaries who lived in urban areas, had household incomes of at least $50,000, and were under the age of 75."

Pharma

AI for pharma: Build vs. buy

Screenshot 2025-07-22 at 6.24.29 AM There's a shift happening in artificial intelligence development at drug companies, according to a new survey of more than 40 pharma and big tech executives by health tech investors Define Ventures. Among companies that were inclined to build tools internally, there's increasing openness to partnering with outside vendors: 30% of pharma leaders are planning to primarily partner externally, 30% are planning to build internally, and 40% are planning an even split. "This shift reflects a growing recognition that internal teams alone may not be able to move fast enough or capture the full value AI offers," the authors write. In the chart above, see a breakdown of build-versus-buy tendencies at different layers of the AI technology stack.

industry news

Digital leader to depart FDA and more news

We heard that Sonja Fulmer is leaving her post as acting head of the Food and Drug Administration's Digital Health Center of Excellence. Acting deputy director of the center, Jessica Paulsen will pick up her duties. Fulmer started at FDA as a postdoctoral scholar in 2014. Her last day is August 8th, and she did not respond to a message asking for confirmation. Reach out if you want to talk about this...
Speaking of a16z, the venture firm led an $18 million funding round in Fortuna Health, which builds tech infrastructure to help people navigate Medicaid eligibility and other related bureaucracy.
Philips l aunched an ECG AI marketplace that offers customers access to algorithms from multiple vendors. First up: An FDA-cleared low ejection fraction algorithm from Mayo Clinic spinout Anumana.

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What we're reading

AI could be used to determine who meets new Medicaid work requirements. CHAI is convening a "tiger team" to assist, Fierce Healthcare
AI companies have stopped warning you that their chatbots aren't doctors, MIT Technology Review
At least 750 US hospitals faced disruptions during last year's CrowdStrike outage, study finds, Wired
Drugmakers are racing to help patients stay awake — and could also make billions, STAT