By Tempus AILearning Objectives
- Understand how Tempus combines laboratory testing, de-identified data licensing and AI software
- Tell apart the parts of Tempus that are machine learning from the parts that are laboratory work
- Know who can actually use each Tempus product and what regulatory status it carries
What Is Tempus AI?
Tempus AI (NASDAQ: TEM) is a precision-medicine company based in Chicago, founded by Eric Lefkofsky in August 2015. Its biggest business is a clinical laboratory that sequences tumors so oncologists can match cancer patients with targeted therapies. Every test adds matched clinical and molecular records to a de-identified database, which Tempus licenses to drugmakers along with its Lens research software. The company calls its approach Intelligent Diagnostics: lab tests that use AI and a patient's clinical data to produce more tailored results.
The scale claims are the company's own. In its annual report filed in February 2026, Tempus says its database holds more than 8.6 million de-identified patient records and about 1.4 billion documents, and that it uses large language model tools to organize those records into a common format.
⚠️Warning
Tempus products are for clinicians and companies, not the public. Genomic tests must be ordered by a physician, the Hub and Tempus One apps are for the providers who order them, and data licensing and full Lens access are sold by contract to life sciences companies. Regulatory status differs by product: some tests are FDA-approved or cleared, while others are offered as laboratory-developed tests without FDA review.
📝Note
Paige is now part of Tempus. Tempus completed its acquisition of the digital pathology company Paige in August 2025, and in July 2026 it agreed to acquire Personalis, a maker of cancer monitoring tests. The Personalis deal needs shareholder and regulatory approval and had not closed as of September 2026.
Pricing
Tempus does not publish prices. Tests are billed per order, usually to the patient's insurer or Medicare, and Tempus says it typically provides its Hub app and basic Lens features at no charge, noting that free Lens access helps customers find data worth licensing.
- Ordered by a physician
- Billed to insurers, including Medicare
- No public price list
- Order tests and track results
- AI assistant for test reports
- For clinicians who order Tempus tests
- Cohort search at no charge
- Data licenses and advanced analytics by contract
- For life sciences companies
Core Features
Genomic Testing
The xT test profiles the DNA of a solid tumor, and xT CDx received FDA approval as a companion diagnostic in April 2023. In 2026 the FDA approved a tumor-only version, and Tempus says it is the first laboratory to hold companion diagnostic approval for both tumor-only and tumor-normal profiling. The lineup also includes xF, a liquid biopsy from a blood draw; xR, which reads tumor RNA and received FDA clearance in September 2025; xM, which looks for traces of cancer after treatment; and xG, a hereditary cancer test, expanded by the purchase of Ambry Genetics in February 2025.
FDA-Cleared Heart Algorithms
The machine learning is easiest to see in the heart algorithms. Tempus ECG-AF, cleared by the FDA in June 2024, flags patients at raised risk of atrial fibrillation from a routine electrocardiogram. ECG-Low EF, cleared in July 2025, looks for signs of a weak heart pump, and ECG-PH, cleared in August 2026, looks for pulmonary hypertension. Tempus Pixel analyzes cardiac magnetic resonance images, with an updated version cleared in September 2025.
Tempus One
Tempus One is an AI assistant inside Hub, the physician app, and on mobile. It answers a clinician's questions about a patient's test report and the supporting data in real time.
Lens and Insights
Lens lets researchers search the de-identified database for patient groups that meet a study's criteria, then license and analyze that data. Merck & Co. signed a multi-year agreement for data and Lens in March 2026, and in April 2026 Gilead expanded its relationship to enterprise-wide Lens access.
Foundation Models
In April 2025 Tempus agreed with AstraZeneca and Pathos AI to build an oncology foundation model trained on Tempus data, with Pathos paying 200 million dollars in data license fees over three years. Tempus says it delivered the first version to AstraZeneca by July 2026. Pathos is co-founded and chaired by Lefkofsky, which makes it a related party.
Digital Pathology
Through Paige, Tempus now owns pathology AI trained on a library of almost 7 million digitized slides. Paige's prostate cancer software received FDA authorization in September 2021, which Tempus describes as the first FDA-cleared AI application in pathology.
Strengths
- Regulatory track record — several FDA-approved or FDA-cleared tests and algorithms, rather than research demos
- Data that comes from care — records are generated by real clinical testing, with matched molecular and clinical information
- One ecosystem — ordering, results, trial matching and an AI assistant live in the same physician app
- Drugmaker adoption — AstraZeneca, Recursion, Merck & Co., Gilead and BioNTech license its data or tools
Limitations and Considerations
- Not available to individuals — patients reach Tempus only through a physician, and research access is by contract
- Mixed regulatory status — some tests are FDA-approved or cleared and others are laboratory-developed tests, so check the specific product
- Self-reported scale — the database figures come from the company, not an independent audit
- Mostly a lab business — much of what Tempus sells is sequencing, with AI layered on top rather than replacing the lab
- Related-party model deal — the foundation model is being built by Pathos, a company its own chief executive co-founded and chairs
- Pending litigation — Guardant Health has sued Tempus in federal court in Delaware, alleging that its xF liquid biopsy and xM monitoring tests infringe Guardant patents, in cases filed in June 2024 and August 2025 and since consolidated. Since February 2026 Tempus has also faced proposed class actions in Illinois under the state's genetic privacy law, which it says are without merit
- No published pricing — costs depend on the test, the insurer and the contract
Best Use Cases
| Use Case | Why Tempus Matters | Caveat |
|---|---|---|
| Choosing a targeted cancer therapy | FDA-approved companion diagnostic profiling | Must be ordered by a physician |
| Finding heart disease earlier | FDA-cleared algorithms that read routine ECGs | Screening flags risk, it does not diagnose |
| Real-world evidence for drug development | Large de-identified oncology database with Lens | Licensed by contract, pricing not public |
| Clinical trial matching | Hub plus Deep 6 AI, acquired in March 2025 | Depends on sites using Tempus |
Key Takeaways
- Tempus AI runs genomic tests for cancer patients and licenses the resulting de-identified data to drugmakers
- Its clearest AI products are FDA-cleared heart algorithms, the Tempus One assistant and the Lens research platform
- It acquired Ambry Genetics and Paige in 2025 and agreed in July 2026 to acquire Personalis, a deal that had not closed as of September 2026
- AstraZeneca, Recursion, Merck & Co. and Gilead license its data, and Tempus says it delivered the first version of an oncology foundation model to AstraZeneca by July 2026
- Its products are for physicians and companies, with no public price list
