Babylon Health: the failed AI wonder app that 'dazzled' politicians

Demise of UK tech start-up is a cautionary tale for politicians seeking quick fixes to complicated problems

Photo montage of Matt Hancock, Ali Parsa and medical imagery
Babylon Health, founded by Ali Parsa, right, and backed by Matt Hancock, was valued at £3.5 billion in 2021 and collapsed in August
(Image credit: Illustrated / Getty Images / Shutterstock)

Babylon Health, the UK tech start-up once valued at billions of dollars that collapsed in August, was only ever "smoke and mirrors", a former employee has said.

The rise and dramatic fall of the healthcare app, backed by senior politicians like the then health secretary Matt Hanock, who saw it as a panacea to cutting NHS waiting times, is more than a classic case of over-promising and underdelivering.

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