Tencent, Babylon Health Team for AI Initiative

April 6, 2018

Tencent has formed a collaboration with UK-based digital healthcare company Babylon Health, which will see both parties leveraging Babylon’s artificial intelligence system to deliver personal health assessments, treatment advice and individual health records across mainland China.

By interacting directly with users, Babylon’s AI system can identify specific illnesses, provide health status assessments, and triage necessary actions. For example, when a user describes his or her symptoms or conditions to the system, Babylon’s artificial intelligence can analyze and form a personal assessment based on those inputs, while making recommendations as to whether the user should seek further consultation with a doctor.
Babylon Health, a digital healthcare company based in London, UK, is developing AI technology that has the potential to provide accessible, affordable healthcare services to everyone. So far, Babylon Health’s membership base has grown to more than 1.4 million people, spanning Europe, Asia and Africa.

Tencent has also been propelling digital applications in the area of health and medical services, through tools such as AI to improve the capability and balance of healthcare resources. Tencent’s initiatives have been covering the entire trail from general health services to disease management, covering all segments of the value chain as well as corresponding real-life scenarios. This collaboration with Babylon is another footprint by Tencent in the realm of big healthcare.

“Tencent is committed to improve our users’ lives through the means of digitalization and technology.” As Meng Zhang, General Manager of Tencent Medical has commented, “We have identified Babylon as one of the leaders in this technology worldwide and aim to partner with them to put it into the hands of Chinese consumers. We look forward to the prospect of a highly successful and long-term partnership with Babylon.”.

Dr Ali Parsa, Babylon Health’s CEO, adds: “Tencent is consistently striving to enhance the life of the people of China. In health, Tencent and Babylon share the same ethos about making healthcare accessible for all. This is a partnership for Babylon to work with one of the tech giants in China, to bring quality digital health service to Chinese people.”