Sword to acquire Headspace, bringing AI Care to the world’s most trusted mental health brand
The acquisition combines Sword’s frontier AI research with Headspace’s global reach across more than 20,000 companies
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NEW YORK, Sept. 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sword, the world’s leading AI health company, today announced it has signed an agreement to acquire Headspace in a deal that marks a significant expansion of Sword’s footprint in mental health. The acquisition brings Headspace’s trusted brand, enterprise distribution, and global consumer base into Sword’s rapidly expanding AI Care platform across musculoskeletal health, women’s health, cardiometabolic health, mental health, and care operations.
While healthcare has traditionally separated the human body into disconnected specialties and point solutions, research shows physical and mental health are inseparable. Sword has built its AI Care platform around that connection, using AI alongside human clinicians to treat the whole person. This acquisition accelerates that approach in mental health.
“This is one of the most consequential moves we’ve made in our history,” said Virgílio Bento, founder and CEO of Sword. “We are pioneering a new model of mental health care that understands each person, remembers their history, and anticipates their needs, 24/7. We’ve already treated more than one million people with AI Care, and with Headspace, we have the opportunity to reach millions more.”
For more than 15 years, Headspace has earned extraordinary trust, becoming an integral part of how millions of people around the world engage with their mental health. Headspace has touched the lives of 100 million people across 200 countries and regions, and its clinical foundation is equally deep, supported by 84 peer-reviewed studies demonstrating the efficacy of its approach. Today, more than 20,000 companies offer Headspace to their employees, alongside health plans like Cigna Healthcare and Kaiser Permanente and partners like the NBA.
“Headspace has always been committed to making mental health support available to anyone, no matter where they are,” said Tom Pickett, CEO of Headspace. “Joining Sword gives us the platform to extend that mission with a care model that understands each person individually, remembers their history, adapts continuously, and brings in a human clinician when it is needed.”
Sword has already been innovating in mental health, building direct care solutions with AI and the underlying systems required to make those experiences clinically effective and safe. The company built its own proprietary foundational models to deliver high-quality mental health care, and open-sourced evaluation and safety frameworks, MindEval and MindGuard, to measure clinical competence of large language models in therapeutic settings. This research underpins Sword’s AI Care solution for mental health, which they launched last year, combining specialized intelligence with clinical memory to understand each person and adapt care as their needs change.
With the integration of Sword’s clinical intelligence, Headspace’s platform will gain more personalization, earlier identification of member needs, seamless navigation, and continuous support across the mental health journey. For employers, health plans, and governments seeking to improve population health, the combined mental health solution will deliver a connected care experience, harnessing Headspace’s care network of more than 15,000 providers.
The acquisition is expected to close by the beginning of Q4 2026, subject to customary closing conditions.
About Sword
For most of history, access to high-quality healthcare has been a privilege of circumstance. Sword exists to change that. As a frontier AI company, Sword builds the foundational models that healthcare needs, training them for clinical reasoning and safety. Its AI Care platform puts those models to work alongside licensed clinicians and care teams, treating more than 1 million patients directly across physical pain, women’s health, mental health, and cardiometabolic care, and orchestrating care for millions more worldwide. Sword is trusted by more than 2,500 of the world’s most sophisticated organizations, including sovereign governments, the US military, and the largest Fortune 500 companies, delivering high-quality care and more than $1.5 billion in healthcare savings to date. Learn more at sword.com.
About Headspace
Headspace is an everyday mental health companion, helping millions of people around the world care for their mind, build resilience, and improve their well-being. The app has touched the lives of more than 100 million people across 200 countries, providing personalized mindfulness, sleep, and mental health support designed to fit seamlessly into daily life. Headspace extends its offerings to employees at more than 20,000 companies who have access through their employer or health plan. It also offers bespoke services for those communities, including an EAP, care navigation, psychiatry, and work-life resources. Our team is made up of world-class clinicians, researchers, Emmy Award-winning storytellers, and AI experts, working together to provide every person access to lifelong mental health support. Learn more at headspace.com.
Media contacts:
press@sword.com
press@headspace.com
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Mariana Ascenção Sword mariana@sword.com
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