What’s the role of a simple fitness band in the AI health era?

A striking development has emerged in artificial intelligence. Column ColumnPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All Column Gadgets GadgetsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All Gadgets Tech TechPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

FollowSee All TechWhat’s the role of a simple fitness band in the AI health era? It’s the end of Fitbit as we knew it. by Victoria Song Victoria SongSenior Reviewer, Wearable TechPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Technical Details

FollowSee All by Victoria SongMay 8, 2026, 2:00 PM UTC Fitness bands can’t be as simple as they once were before the AI health boom. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Column ColumnPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All Column Gadgets GadgetsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

FollowSee All Gadgets Tech TechPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All TechWhat’s the role of a simple fitness band in the AI health era? It’s the end of Fitbit as we knew it.

by Victoria Song Victoria SongSenior Reviewer, Wearable TechPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All by Victoria SongMay 8, 2026, 2:00 PM UTC Victoria Song Victoria SongPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All by Victoria Song is a senior reporter and author of the Optimizer newsletter.

Industry Implications

She has more than 13 years of experience reporting on wearables, health tech, and more. Before coming to The Verge, she worked for Gizmodo and PC Magazine. This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent every Friday from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest gizmos and potions that swear they’re going to change your life.

Opt in for Optimizer here. A fitness band is for bettering yourself, but casually. It’s lightweight, easy to wear, and not something you have to think too hard about.

It’s cheaper than a smartwatch. You get your steps, basic heart rate, and some sleep tracking. Maybe you can see the time, maybe you can’t.

This advance offers important signals about the future of the sector, and the tech world is watching closely.