Light AI (CBOE CA: ALGO; FSE: 0H6; OTCQB: OHCFF) is developing cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) to advance health diagnostics and wellness solutions through its proprietary technology platform. By applying AI algorithms to smartphone images—without the need for hardware, swabs, or laboratories—the platform delivers next-generation patient management in seconds.
“We are addressing a significant global need by essentially transforming smartphones into portable diagnostic labs,” Peter Whitehead, founder and CEO of Light AI, says in an interview with BioTuesdays. “In seconds, an image is sent to the cloud and a result is returned. We’re the first company to achieve gold-standard, diagnostic-level metrics.”
While Light AI’s technology has broad potential applications, the company is currently focused on critical public health issues including antimicrobial resistance and Group A Streptococcus (GAS) pharyngitis. The company’s innovative wellness platform assists users in ruling out COVID-19 and pink eye.
“Viral and GAS pharyngitis affect more than 600 million people annually, and if misdiagnosed and left untreated, it can lead to rheumatic heart disease (RHD), which carries an estimated global economic burden of more than $1 trillion annually,” Mr. Whitehouse explains.
He notes that that in developed countries, for every ten sore throats treated by a physician, there are six antibiotic prescriptions written—yet only two cases out of ten are typically bacterial infections. “It takes 24 to 36 hours to get a throat swab result, so doctors often prescribe antibiotics preemptively. More often than not, the patient starts taking the prescription before results are even available.”
In lower-middle-income countries, access to laboratories is limited and GAS diagnoses are often made through visual inspection alone—leaving ample room for error.
“In these regions, about 80% of patients receive antibiotics, and many stop treatment once they start feeling better. Incomplete antibiotic courses allow bacteria to persist and sometimes invade the heart muscle, causing RHD. In fact, RHD causes more pediatric deaths than malaria in some communities,” Mr. Whitehead contends. “There is also the issue of rising antibiotic resistance—with infections like MRSA causing sepsis. The need for a fast, accessible, reliable diagnostic tool to distinguish between viral from bacterial infections is urgent.”
In February 2025, Light AI partnered with MrBeast Industries, a philanthropic initiative founded by global content creator and social media influencer, Jimmy Donaldson. Through this partnership, Light AI will donate AI-powered GAS tests enabling faster and more accessible diagnosis in underserved regions of Africa.
In pre-FDA validation studies, Light AI’s algorithm demonstrated high accuracy in differentiating between viral and bacterial pharyngitis, specifically targeting GAS.
“Our results matched the gold-standard throat swab culture, with 96.6% accuracy rate and a negative predictive value of 100%, meaning the system is highly reliable in confirming the absence of GAS,” Mr. Whitehead says.
The user-friendly app is downloaded onto a smartphone. Users are guided to record a two-second video of the back of the throat. The process takes about 45 seconds, with the diagnosis returned in just ten seconds via cloud analysis.
“With a proprietary cloud-based library of 300,000 images, and by leveraging the 4.5 billion smartphones globally, we are positioned to address infectious disease at scale. This represents a massive growth opportunity for Light AI,” Mr. Whitehead points out.
The company offers two platforms: one for healthcare professionals to use during tele-health consulting—which is currently undergoing regulatory review by Health Canada and the FDA—and the other a direct-to-consumer version designed to reduce uncertainty over whether a doctor visit is necessary.
Since 1995, Mr. Whitehead—an inventor, entrepreneur, and thought leader in the photonics-based medical device space—has been applying AI algorithms to healthcare data. He is the inventor of the VELscope Vx, a widely adopted oral cancer visualization and assessment device that quickly became the number one oral cancer-screening device in 24 countries, with more than 64 million tests completed to date. The VELscope Vx is a five-time winner of the American Dental Association’s Best of Class Technology Award.
“In the early days, it took 24 hours and $35 in computational resources to run a single case. Today, we can diagnose in about six seconds at a cost of about ten cents,” he says.
When asked what sets Light AI apart—Mr. Whitehead highlights the company’s intellectual property: four patents granted for its AI, including one titled Infection Detection Using Image Data Analysis.
“A strong patent portfolio in AI isn’t common. We’ve built a robust IP foundation that positions us as a market leader through 2037. This IP is attractive to partners investing in global platforms—they want to work with a company that has staying power.”
In closing, Mr. Whitehead shares a bold vision, “One of the exiting aspects of our journey is our hyperscale distribution potential. When we partner with the right group—such as an Apple, Samsung, or Google—we could deploy our software overnight to hundreds of millions of phones worldwide. No diagnostic tool has ever had that kind of potential—and so we are really excited about the future of Light AI.”
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To connect with Light AI or any other companies featured on BioTuesdays, send us an email at editor@biotuesdays.com.
