South African tycoon Adrian Gore's Discovery makes second US push with Google AI

South African tycoon Adrian Gore is taking Discovery Ltd. back into the U.S. health market, almost two decades after the insurer he founded abandoned American health insurance, this time with an artificial intelligence platform built with Google.

Vitality, the Discovery unit that sells its program of rewards for exercise, health checks and other healthy habits, said on Sept. 17 that it is expanding its Vitality AI platform in the U.S. The system runs on Google Cloud and Google's Gemini models and will be offered to American health plans and employers. Neither company disclosed financial terms.

"Through our partnership with Google, we've shown that AI's impact on health care is no longer a promise," said Emile Stipp, chief executive of Vitality AI. "Extending Vitality AI into the U.S. brings that proof to millions more."

Vitality AI combines Google's models with more than 2,800 health and behavioral measures that Vitality tracks on its members, and uses them to send each person tailored advice, coaching and cash incentives. It has been running in the U.S. on a smaller scale since June 2025, and more than 210,000 Americans have received a recommended health action from it. Vitality says rewards of $19 to $45 lifted screening rates, and that a $31 reward raised cholesterol testing by 52%.

"We are proud to expand this partnership to help U.S. employers and other members proactively engage with their health," said Maureen Costello, a vice president at Google Cloud.

A second run at America

Discovery first tried the U.S. through Destiny Health, a Chicago-based health insurer it set up in the early 2000s to sell plans built around Vitality. Destiny paid much more for its members' medical care than its far larger rivals did, and its losses in the year to June 2007 breached limits set by Discovery's board. In February 2008, Discovery said it would leave the U.S. retail health insurance market. Its insured members moved to another carrier from April 2008, and Trustmark Life Insurance Co. took over Destiny's employer group business.

Gore kept Vitality alive in the U.S. as a stand-alone program sold to employers and other insurers. In the U.S. its partners include John Hancock, which began selling life policies linked to Vitality in 2015 and in 2018 said it would sell only such interactive policies, which track exercise and health data through wearables and phones.

The new push leans on acquisitions rather than on selling insurance. Discovery bought workplace wellness firm WellSpark in November 2024 and Ramp Health in March 2026. On Sept. 1 it completed the purchase of Icario, which helps Medicaid and Medicare Advantage plans get their members to use their health benefits. Discovery paid $27 million in cash upfront and could pay up to $32.5 million more if Icario hits revenue targets, bringing the total to $59.5 million.

Icario covers about 11 million people. Combined with Icario, Vitality's U.S. business will serve 19 million members and about 30% of U.S. health plans, including eight of the 10 largest. VitalityHealth USA grew revenue 22% in the year to June 30 and ended the period with 3.6 million covered members across 10 health plans. It also signed a partnership with HealthEquity, the largest U.S. custodian of health savings accounts by number of accounts.

Results and Gore's stake

The U.S. expansion follows a year of strong growth at Discovery. Normalized profit from operations rose 17% to R17.75 billion ($1.08 billion) in the year to June 30, and headline earnings climbed 34% to R12.92 billion ($786.4 million). The full-year dividend rose 33% to 384 cents a share. Vitality AI is still costly, posting a loss of R299 million ($18.2 million) in the year, a figure that also carries other central Vitality costs.

Gore launched Vitality AI with Google in November 2025, first for Discovery's South African members and then for its British business. "Vitality AI marks a profound step-change for us," he said at the time. "It's early days, but the potential is extraordinary."

Gore founded Discovery in 1992 and remains its group chief executive. He owns about 45.6 million Discovery shares, or 6.68% of the company. At Monday's closing price of R266.60 on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, his stake is worth about R12.2 billion ($740 million), using an exchange rate of R16.43 to the dollar.