Midjourney, known for its AI image-generation software, announced a surprising pivot to medical imaging technology with plans to open a San Francisco spa where customers can undergo full-body ultrasound scans while immersed in a 'golden light' water tank. The company aims to integrate advanced ultrasound tomography and AI to offer fast, accessible body scanning for preventative healthcare.
- Midjourney introduces a water-immersive ultrasound spa using AI imaging.
- The scanner uses licensed hardware from Butterfly Network under co-development.
- FDA approval and device refinement are key hurdles before planned 2027 opening.
What happened
Midjourney, a San Francisco-based company previously focused on AI-generated images, revealed a new venture—Midjourney Medical—centered on full-body ultrasound scanning within a spa setting. The concept involves guests being submerged in a shallow pool of water illuminated with golden light, where ultrasound sensors gather wave data to reconstruct MRI-like body images using AI algorithms. The prototype scanner includes a ring of 40 ultrasound modules with 358,000 transducers, achieving tissue resolution around half a millimeter.
Despite presenting the technology as an invention, Midjourney’s hardware is sourced through a partnership with Butterfly Network, a company that confirmed supplying the ultrasound imaging components under a co-development agreement. Butterfly expects revenues of $74 million over five years from this collaboration. Midjourney aims to open its first spa by late 2027 and eventually deploy 50,000 scanning units globally by 2031, targeting a capacity of a billion scans monthly as a preventative health tool.
Why it matters
Midjourney’s pivot reflects a growing trend of AI companies diversifying into health-tech applications, potentially democratizing access to advanced diagnostic tools by combining sophisticated imaging technology with a consumer spa experience. The ultrasound technique, Fullbody Ultrasound Computational Tomography (USCT), promises rapid, non-invasive scans with resolution comparable to conventional MRIs, but potentially at a lower cost and with higher throughput. If successful, this could significantly reduce healthcare expenses and improve early disease detection.
What to watch next
Additionally, observers should watch how Midjourney and Butterfly Network manage their partnership and public communications moving forward, especially given the prior omission of hardware collaboration details in Midjourney’s announcement. The scaling strategy toward 50,000 deployed units and achieving a billion scans per month by 2031 will require significant technical refinement, regulatory success, and consumer adoption to truly impact healthcare outcomes and costs.