IBM sells parts of Watson Health health AI division

IBM is selling significant parts of its Watson Health division. The company appears to have failed to make its artificial intelligence division for the health sector profitable.

IBM sells health data and analytics assets from Watson Health to investment firm Francisco Partners. It is unclear what will happen to the remaining part of Watson Health. IBM just wants to say that the company remains “committed to Watson, our wider AI business, and to the customers and partners we support with healthcare IT.”

The Wall Street Journal wrote last year that IBM wanted to sell Watson Health. The division had annual sales of one billion dollars, but was not profitable. IBM started Watson Health in 2015 in an effort to commercialize its Watson AI. The agency should assist doctors and other health professionals with data-driven analytics.

Watson rose to fame in 2011 by beating two human players in the TV game Jeopardy. Attempts to subsequently make artificial intelligence profitable were not very successful. It is precisely the commitment to healthcare that should change this, IBM hoped in 2014.