News

Instagram Adds New Digital Message Board Feature For Creators

The addition is known as Broadcast Channels and will function as a one-way messaging tool.

Published

3 years ago

February 17, 2023

Nour Nasir

Instagram

Yesterday, Instagram users received an unusual notification from Mark Zuckerberg himself. The random invitation from the head of Meta heralded the arrival of a new feature, urging users to “join their broadcast channel: Meta Channel.”

The new addition, known as Broadcast Channels, is a “public, one-to-many messaging tool for creators to engage with their followers directly.”

instagram broadcast channels

In essence, Instagram creators can message all their followers simultaneously in the form of a one-way group chat. Followers can react to broadcasts and participate in polls but can’t write back directly. Finally, Broadcast Channels can be muted at any time or notifications turned off entirely.

Meta is currently testing the new feature on 14 celebrity and influencer accounts, including Olympian Chloe Kim, skier Mikaela Shiffrin, and gamers Valkyrae and FaZe Rug. The Zuckerberg-led company will also be bringing the tool to both Messenger and Facebook over the coming months, as well as adding extra features such as question prompts.

News

OpenAI’s ChatGPT Health Is A Private Space For Health Data

A new health mode lets the popular AI platform tap medical records and fitness apps while walling off sensitive information.

Published

6 days ago

January 8, 2026

Nour Nasir

OpenAI

OpenAI has created ChatGPT Health, a separate space inside its chatbot platform for handling medical and wellness data. The opt-in feature starts with a small US cohort before widening out.

Health-related questions have long driven traffic to AI tools. OpenAI says over 230 million people ask ChatGPT about health or insurance each week. The new mode adds personal context to that behavior but stops short of diagnosis or treatment advice.

Users can connect records from participating US providers through b.well and link apps such as Apple Health, MyFitnessPal, Function and Weight Watchers. Some links are US-only, while Apple Health needs iOS. Once connected, ChatGPT can surface patterns in labs, summarize information ahead of a clinic visit or help map diet and exercise choices against past data.

The data sits apart from other chat information. Health has its own memories and does not spill into other conversations. Users can view or delete health memories at any time. OpenAI says this material is not used to train its models.

Security is much heavier in this section too. Health adds isolation and purpose-built encryption on top of the platform’s baseline protections. App connections require explicit permission, and disconnecting cuts the feed immediately.

“ChatGPT Health is another step toward turning ChatGPT into a personal super-assistant that can support you with information and tools to achieve your goals across any part of your life,” wrote Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s applications chief.

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Physicians had input during development, though OpenAI has not detailed how that shaped the end product. The launch follows Health Bench, a dataset released in May to test models on realistic medical cases.

While currently rooted in the US healthcare ecosystem, the approach may draw interest in the Gulf and wider MENA markets as governments push digital health records and patient portals under modernization programs. Adoption will depend on whether users trust an AI assistant with such personal material and whether it fits clinical routines.

For OpenAI, the move marks a cautious step into regulated terrain and signals a shift toward sector-specific uses of generative AI.