Apple cancels AI health coach project in strategy shift

Apple has canceled its planned AI health coach project, according to a report from Engadget on February 6. The project, internally codenamed "Mulberry," was designed to be an AI-powered virtual health coach that provided personalized advice on exercise, eating habits, and sleep management. This cancellation represents a notable change in the company's approach to developing health-related artificial intelligence products and services.

The decision to abandon the project is reportedly linked to a shift in leadership and a subsequent change in strategic priorities. According to a separate report from Bloomberg, cited in a Mastodon post, new leadership within the relevant divisions is emphasizing a faster path to more tangible results. This pivot has led the company to deprioritize longer-term, ambitious research projects like the AI health coach in favor of initiatives with shorter development cycles and more immediate, concrete outputs.

The canceled project was a component of Apple's broader health technology ambitions, which include features on the Apple Watch and in the Health app. The AI health coach was intended to represent a more proactive and integrated approach to digital wellness, moving beyond passive data tracking to active, AI-driven guidance. Its cancellation indicates a recalibration of how the company plans to achieve its goals in the competitive digital health market, where it faces competition from established players like Fitbit and a variety of health-tech startups.

In a separate development also reported on February 6, sources indicated this strategic realignment is part of a larger internal shift. The company is now said to be focusing its AI and health resources on projects that can be integrated into existing hardware and software ecosystems more rapidly. This suggests a potential focus on incremental updates to current health features available on devices like the iPhone and Apple Watch, rather than the development of entirely new, standalone AI health services.

The impact of this cancellation is primarily internal, halting the work of the teams dedicated to the "Mulberry" project. For consumers, it means the anticipated AI health coaching functionality will not be released as previously planned. The move highlights the challenges even well-resourced technology companies face when developing advanced AI applications for the healthcare sector, which involves complex regulatory hurdles and requires a high degree of accuracy and reliability.

Market analysts will likely watch for how this strategic shift manifests in Apple's upcoming product announcements, particularly at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference. The company's continued investment in health sensors for its wearable devices suggests hardware data collection remains a priority, while this cancellation indicates the software and AI analytics layer is undergoing a reassessment. The long-term strategy for integrating AI into Apple's health portfolio remains a key area of interest for observers of the company.