Google wants to fill Fitbit with AI — and your medical records
It's fair to say Fitbit has been through a few changes in the eight years since I wrote about breaking up with the then-dominant wearable. Spoiler alert: I ran away with the Apple Watch and never looked back. Now here comes the ex with a new announcement, and, uh ... I guess you'd say they've had some work done?
Fitbit was bought by Google for $2.1 billion back in 2019. The Fitbit co-founders left the tech giant in 2024, a few months before Google discontinued the Fitbit wearable altogether. The Google Pixel has become the default Fitbit smartwatch, and the Fitbit Charge 6 its sturdy old-school fitness tracker.
Meanwhile, the Fitbit app — where Google sells Premium subscriptions at $8 a month — has been loaded with new features. Now, whether you like it or not, those features include feedback from Google's AI, Gemini — or as it's called in its Fitbit flavor, Coach.
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The company has trialed Coach via the Android version of the Fitbit app. The test expanded last month to iOS users — right around the same time Fitbit owners were required to have Google accounts, and the Fitbit accounts were discontinued.
That deadline for switching to Google has been extended until May 19, 2026 — doing little more than perpetuating the agony for old-school Fitbit users.
All of which, apparently, makes this the perfect time for Google to invite Fitbit users to trust the company with their medical data. "When your coach understands your medical history, its guidance becomes safer, more relevant and more personalized," the company wrote in its latest Fitbit announcement.
The company added: "you have control of your data and how it's used, shared or deleted. Your medical records, like other health data in Fitbit, is not used for ads." (emphasis in the original.)
And if you're wondering whether to trust that claim, note that the AI features in question aren't from Google alone. Requests for health records go to b.well Connected Health, an AI platform that aggregates health data from various providers.
Clear, the security platform you may know from the empty line next to the TSA queue at many airports, is another partner, allowing you to search for medical records using a valid form of ID and a selfie.
So, Fitbit, you're looking well, and I see you have some new friends. We must catch up sometime. Bring my medical records? Yeah, let me think about that. I'll let you know!
Topics Fitbit
Chris is a veteran tech, entertainment and culture journalist, author of 'How Star Wars Conquered the Universe,' and co-host of the Doctor Who podcast 'Pull to Open.' Hailing from the U.K., Chris got his start as a sub editor on national newspapers. He moved to the U.S. in 1996, and became senior news writer for Time.com a year later. In 2000, he was named San Francisco bureau chief for Time magazine. He has served as senior editor for Business 2.0, and West Coast editor for Fortune Small Business and Fast Company. Chris is a graduate of Merton College, Oxford and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is also a long-time volunteer at 826 Valencia, the nationwide after-school program co-founded by author Dave Eggers. His book on the history of Star Wars is an international bestseller and has been translated into 11 languages.
