Neal Khosla Claims AI Will Revolutionize Healthcare

Curai Health was born from a deeply personal place. Co-founder Neal Khosla, along with Xavier Amatriain, launched the company in 2017 with the goal of making healthcare accessible for everyone. Having witnessed close family members struggle through the complexities of chronic illnesses, Khosla knew the gaps in the healthcare system firsthand. His experiences revealed both the strengths and weaknesses of healthcare and sparked a mission to bring accessible primary care to billions worldwide. As Khosla put it, “When you see the system up close, you see the good and you see the bad, and I think it just builds a real connection to why we need to change this problem.”

The name “Curai” itself speaks to their mission, rooted in the concept of “curing” and healing. But the team wasn’t interested in merely treating symptoms; they wanted to create a transformative approach to healthcare that would address the global challenge of healthcare access. Curai’s core goal was clear: scale top-tier healthcare to everyone on Earth by combining the expertise of physicians with the efficiencies of artificial intelligence. As Khosla succinctly put it, “Our mission and the reason we started this company was this idea of how do you build a world where eight billion people have access to really great primary health care.”

Supported by substantial venture capital backing, Curai raised over $50 million in funding from high-profile investors like General Catalyst, Morningside Ventures, and Khosla Ventures, the latter founded by Neal Khosla’s father, Vinod Khosla. Although specific valuation figures remain undisclosed, this robust investment speaks to the faith in Curai’s potential to reshape healthcare.

Building a New Model of Care through AI

Curai’s approach to healthcare is centered on AI and machine learning, with the intention of building a scalable model of primary care. This AI isn’t just a flashy addition—it’s fundamental to Curai’s vision. The platform leverages advanced AI models like GPT-4 to support healthcare professionals by performing routine administrative tasks, allowing doctors to focus on the nuanced and complex aspects of patient care. Curai’s AI acts as a digital assistant, handling tasks like gathering patient information and sending follow-up messages, freeing clinicians to provide more personalized attention where it’s needed most.

Curai also uses AI to provide triage, identifying cases that require direct human intervention while handling routine inquiries efficiently. The goal is ambitious yet straightforward: empower doctors to see more patients without compromising on quality. “AI is the massive unlock to scaling our clinicians,” Khosla explained, emphasizing the critical role of AI in their strategy. Partnerships with healthcare giants like Amazon Clinic further amplify Curai’s reach, enabling them to serve a broader audience while maintaining their focus on quality care.

Partnerships and Expansions

Curai Health’s partnership with Amazon Clinic, launched in 2023, represents a significant step in the company’s efforts to widen access to primary care services. Through Amazon Clinic, Curai can now reach millions more users, offering them 24/7 access to healthcare professionals through a simple, text-based interaction model. Beyond Amazon, Curai also collaborates with employer-sponsored health plans, integrating its services into workplace healthcare offerings, and partners with established health systems, embedding its AI-powered solutions into existing healthcare infrastructures.

In another impactful collaboration, Curai teamed up with ALICORN Inc., a health and productivity solutions provider, to bring high-quality primary care to ALICORN’s members. This partnership allows employees covered by ALICORN to receive primary care via chat-first virtual interactions, including management for chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and mental health issues. ALICORN’s CEO, Praveen Mooganur, highlighted the critical nature of this alliance, saying, “It’s tragic that 67 percent of bankruptcies in the US are caused by medical debt. A significant number of working people can’t afford medical care resulting in complications and costs later.” This collaboration promises to mitigate these challenges by providing accessible and affordable healthcare solutions to working families.

Another example of Curai’s commitment to healthcare equity is its recent partnership with Healthcare in Action (HIA), a street-based medical group dedicated to serving the homeless population in California. Through this collaboration, individuals experiencing homelessness can access Curai’s virtual care services free of charge, ensuring that this vulnerable population can receive 24/7 medical attention. Khosla views this partnership as a critical extension of Curai’s mission, stating, “Our healthcare system in the U.S. leaves behind so many individuals, preventing them from getting the basic care they need. We’re honored to work with our partners to bring a radically more scalable form of access to care to their existing support for a drastically underserved population.”

Curai’s Unique Approach to Patient Care

Curai Health’s approach is distinctive in its emphasis on continuous, patient-centered care. The company’s AI-supported platform offers a range of services, from urgent care to chronic disease management. Unlike many other telehealth solutions that focus primarily on episodic care, Curai seeks to foster long-term relationships between patients and healthcare providers, helping patients navigate complex health journeys and manage ongoing conditions. For instance, Dr. Norah Baker, a physician at Curai, has seen firsthand how the platform enables her to guide patients in real-time, offering support on issues ranging from nutrition counseling to blood pressure and blood sugar monitoring. “I feel like I have been able to guide patients through their wellness journey within the comfort of their day-to-day lives,” Dr. Baker shared, emphasizing the platform’s role in fostering patient autonomy and continuous care.

Beyond individual care, Curai’s platform also addresses some of the broader issues plaguing the healthcare system. For example, 20% of Curai’s patients reported that they would have gone to the emergency room had they not had access to the service, while another 23% would have sought urgent care. By reducing unnecessary ER visits, Curai not only alleviates pressure on overburdened healthcare facilities but also saves patients from the high costs associated with emergency care.

A Vision for the Future of Healthcare

In October 2024, Curai Health appointed Jennifer Close as Chief Operating Officer, marking a major milestone in its journey toward scalable, high-quality primary care. Bringing over 20 years of operational leadership experience in healthcare, Close joins Curai from her role as Senior Vice President of Clinical Operations at Teladoc Health, with a background that includes executive roles at Blaze Health, North Memorial Health, and the University of Chicago Medicine. Neal Khosla, Curai’s CEO, emphasized her impact on the company’s mission, stating, “Jennifer is the best of the best in healthcare operations, with deep experience from all angles of the industry. Her leadership will be key as we continue to scale and expand access to high-quality, virtual-first care for everyone.” Close echoed this commitment, saying, “Operations is the backbone of effective care delivery — When we implement the right processes and systems, we allow clinicians to focus fully on providing the best patient care. Curai shares this philosophy, and I’m excited to join this stellar team that provides an outstanding experience for patients, partners, and clinicians.”

Curai Health’s journey, though still in its early stages, holds the potential to redefine the healthcare landscape. Khosla’s vision is bold; he envisions a world where Curai’s AI-driven model could scale to serve a million patients a day, fundamentally altering how people access primary care. He imagines a future where healthcare is not a rarefied service for the privileged few but a readily accessible resource for everyone. “At some point,” he shared, “I’d love to see like a million patients a day… that’s, call it, five percent of the world’s population on a given day. That would be humongous for a healthcare product.”