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Tempus AI Faces Class Action Cases for Collection of Genetic Information in Acquisition

Published
Score
10

Why it matters

Tempus AI faces multiple class action lawsuits alleging it transferred genetic data from over one million patient tests without consent following its $600 million acquisition of Ambry Genetics in February 2025. The Chicago-based healthcare technology company is accused of taking Ambry's database and using the genetic information to train artificial intelligence models, then licensing the data to more than 70 pharmaceutical and biotech partners through agreements valued at over $1.1 billion. Seven named plaintiffs from Illinois, California, New York, Michigan, Florida, Georgia, and West Virginia—who provided genetic samples to Ambry for medical testing—filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on April 15. The complaints cite violations of the Illinois Genetic Information Privacy Act and comparable state statutes protecting genetic data.

Tempus contends the transferred data was de-identified, but plaintiffs argue that genetic information is inherently identifiable regardless of what identifying details are removed. The scope of downstream recipients and the specific terms of the licensing agreements remain partially unclear, though the complaints name pharmaceutical and biotech companies as recipients. Tempus reported revenue growth exceeding 83% year-over-year in 2025, with plaintiffs attributing significant portions of that growth to commercializing the Ambry genetic data.

The litigation exposes substantial liability for healthcare platforms and life sciences vendors as data-sharing partnerships face public scrutiny. Attorneys should monitor how courts address whether genetic data can be meaningfully anonymized under state privacy statutes, and whether acquisition-related data transfers trigger consent requirements even when the original data collection predates the transaction. The case will likely influence how healthcare companies structure post-acquisition data integration and licensing arrangements.

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