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Of Course ‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli Is Getting in on the AI Gold Rush

Martin Shkreli says his new medical chatbot—named Dr. Gupta—will be the new WebMD.

Notorious “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli, a former drug company executive who was released from federal prison after in 2022 after serving four years for federal securities fraud, is turning his attention to artificial intelligence. On Thursday, Shkreli launched a chatbot, dubbed “Dr. Gupta,” which is supposed to answer health-related questions and give medical advice, according to Semafor. Shkreli talked about the project during a Twitter Spaces event Thursday: “We want to be the replacement for all health care information at the very least, and ideally some of the care as well.” However, considering Shkreli’s infamous past and the sensitivity required in the handling of medical information, questions are being asked about whether a bot can truly replace a doctor. He has also faced a government inquiry after the Federal Trade Commission accused Shkreli of violating his lifetime pharma ban after forming and operating his new company, “Druglike, Inc.” Shkreli, however, says his chatbot uses modified technology used by OpenAI’s ChatGPT and claims it forms its answers based on information from medical journals and publicly available text online. However, even Shkreli conceded that his tech isn’t yet ready to completely replace human doctors.