Dexcom launches generative AI platform for Stelo users

Dexcom on Tuesday announced an artificial intelligence feature for its Stelo continuous glucose monitor that gives users a personalized look into how meals, sleep and activity impact their glucose levels. It’s the first iteration of a new generative AI platform that the company has been building with Google Cloud. 

Stelo is an over-the-counter CGM that pokes through the skin to measure real-time blood sugar levels. The sensor launched in August and can be used by any adult who doesn’t take insulin. 

The report reflects Dexcom’s effort to make Stelo more personalized and engaging for consumers as it works to penetrate a new market. 

“The No. 1 feedback we get is users want to see more,” Jake Leach, chief operating officer at Dexcom, told CNBC in an interview. “They’re making an investment and wearing the product, and they want to be able to take the most advantage of all the data that they’re generating.”

Dexcom is using Google’s Gemini models and its Vertex AI platform as the foundation for its new AI offering. Vertex AI allows developers to build applications that synthesize different types of data, which can be notoriously challenging in health care. 

Leach said Dexcom is also exploring how its generative AI platform can be used across its other CGM products, but the company is proceeding extra carefully since patients rely on them to prevent medical emergencies. 

“It really felt like Stelo was the right place to do this for the first time,” he said.

An existing insights report has already been available to users within the Stelo app, but it followed a more standard template format each week. Dexcom believes the AI-generated report will be more valuable to users since it’s personalized, Leach said. 

If there’s a week where a user is not moving enough after meals, for instance, the report would include relevant tips and educational materials to help. 

Stelo’s AI reports don’t give users medical advice, though Dexcom has been using an AI framework from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to help guide the feature’s development, Leach said. The FDA approved Stelo in March. 

Eventually, Dexcom wants to use its generative AI platform to deliver real-time feedback to users instead of just weekly reports. The company is also exploring how the technology could act as a predictive indicator for potential problems, much like a check engine light on a car. 

“It gives you a sense for what could be going on, and recommendations of where you might want to go to seek more advice,” Chris Sakalosky, vice president of strategic industries for Google Cloud, told CNBC in an interview.   

Dexcom’s updated weekly report began rolling out to Stelo users this week.