More and more people asked OpenAI’s ChatGPT and other LLMs about their health, often find that chatbots provide more useful insights into medicine.

KJ Dhaliwal (pictured left), who in 2019 sold South Asian dating app Dil Mil for $50 millionsays that he has been thinking about the inefficiencies of the US healthcare system since he was a child acting as a medical translator for his parents, and he sees the arrival of LLMs as an opportunity to do something about it.

In May 2024, he launched Lotus Health AI, a free primary care provider available 24/7 in 50 languages. On Tuesday, Lotus announced that it had secured $35 million in a Series A round led by CRV and Kleiner Perkins, bringing the total funding to $41 million.

People already consult AI about their health, but Lotus goes a step further: it goes beyond chats to facilitate actual medical care, including diagnosis, prescriptions, and specialist referrals.

In essence, Lotus is building an AI doctor that operates like a real medical practice, equipped with a license to operate in all 50 states, malpractice insurance, HIPAA-compliant systems, and full access to patient records.

The key difference is that most of the work is done by AI, which is trained to ask the same questions a doctor would.

Because AI models are also quick hallucinationsthe company always has board-certified human doctors from leading health institutions such as Stanford, Harvard, and UCSF who review final diagnoses, lab orders, and medical prescriptions.

Lotus has developed an AI model that, similar to Open Evidencesynthesizes the latest evidence-based research with the patient’s history and clinical responses to create a treatment plan.

“The AI ​​gives the advice, but the real doctors actually sign it,” Dhaliwal told TechCrunch.

Lotus recognizes the limitations of virtual care. For urgent health issues, Lotus directs patients to the nearest urgent care center or emergency room. And if a case requires a physical examination, the platform refers the patient to a personal physician, Dhaliwal said.

Outsourcing such an important part of medical decision-making to AI is an ambitious bet given the regulatory hurdles in healthcare. For example, doctors are limited to seeing patients only in states where they are licensed.

As CRV’s general partner Saar Gur, who led the deal and joined the company’s board, said: “There are many challenges, but SpaceX is not sending astronauts to the moon.”

Gur (pictured right), an early investor in DoorDash, Mercury, and Ring, is convinced that the telemedicine frameworks established during the pandemic, combined with recent breakthroughs in AI, allow Lotus to navigate many of the current regulatory and engineering hurdles.

“It’s a big swing,” Gur said. But for an investor like Gur, that’s the draw: Lotus is trying to fundamentally change the entire primary care model.

At the time primary care doctors were there lack of supplyLotus claims it sees 10 times as many patients as a traditional practice, even though it limits each visit to 15 minutes.

The startup isn’t the only one building an AI doctor. Powered by lightspeed Doctronic is one of the competitors. Lotus distinguishes itself — at least for now — by offering its entire care suite completely free of charge.

Dhaliwal said business models could eventually include sponsored content or subscriptions, but the current focus remains entirely on product development and attracting patients rather than revenue.