Caris Life Sciences vs Tempus (2026)
Both run their own molecular laboratories, and this site indexes them for different products. Caris profiles solid tumors with whole exome and whole transcriptome sequencing and adds AI signatures to the report. MI Cancer Seek holds FDA premarket approval (P240010) with companion diagnostic indications. Caris publishes which results sit inside that label and which do not, and its signatures GPSai and FOLFIRSTai sit outside it. Orders and results run inside Epic and OncoEMR at more than 315 organizations. Tempus is indexed for its software for clinicians. Next reads record text to find patients who have not received guideline directed care, starting with biomarker testing in oncology. Tempus One in EHR is a generative AI assistant inside the record, and nP Notetaker drafts notes from encounter audio. A prospective study of 662 lung cancer patients in six community health systems, presented at ASCO 2026, reported higher biomarker testing rates. Choose Caris for an approved tumor profile with AI signatures whose label scope is written down; choose Tempus for software that finds patients missing guideline care between tests.
- You want an FDA approved profiling assay, with the results outside its label named on the page.
- Signature performance should come with case counts, such as GPSai's 95 percent accuracy across more than 97,000 cases.
- Orders and structured results should run inside Epic or OncoEMR.
- You want record text screened for patients who missed guideline directed biomarker testing.
- Your physicians want a generative assistant inside the record and draft notes from encounter audio.
- You want business associate terms published, with the covered entity and business associate roles set out by service.
This comparison is published by AI Health Index, an independent research platform that compares healthcare AI vendors objectively. Caris Life Sciences and Tempus are each graded against the same capability taxonomy, from each vendor's own public materials and the regulatory record, under the AI Health Index verification standard. No vendor pays for placement, and no vendor has reviewed this page. How this evidence is graded
Plain facts
| Fact | Caris Life Sciences | Tempus |
|---|---|---|
| Primary category | Diagnostics & Genomics | Clinical Decision Support |
| Headquarters | Irving, Texas | Chicago, Illinois |
| Website | carislifesciences.com | tempus.com |
Side by Side
Select any grade to read the note behind it.
Product updates
The latest logged changes from each vendor, newest first, each linked to its source.
Caris Life Sciences
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Clinical evidence
Caris presented two AI models for breast cancer at ESMO 2026.
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Regulatory / FDA
FDA approved a supplement to the premarket approval for MI Cancer Seek, Caris' whole exome and whole transcriptome tumor profiling assay, that moves the test's bioinformatics pipeline from Caris' own computing cluster to Amazon Web Services.
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Product / capability
Caris launched an enhanced Caris Assure liquid biopsy that combines whole exome sequencing, whole transcriptome sequencing and whole blood analysis in one assay, so tumor derived alterations can be told apart from clonal hematopoiesis and incidental germline findings.
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Tempus
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Regulatory / FDA
Tempus said its xR RNA sequencing assay, which detects gene rearrangements and specific splice variants in solid tumor tissue, received certification as a Class C in vitro diagnostic under the EU's IVDR.
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Clinical evidence
Tempus reported an analysis of 60,459 advanced lung cancer cases from 56,969 patients, done with Pfizer, in which an AI panel reading routine H&E slides flagged 12 biomarkers with sensitivity above 80 percent for all of them and above 90 percent for several.
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Regulatory / FDA
Tempus received FDA 510(k) clearance for Tempus ECG-MR, software that reads a standard resting 12 lead ECG and flags signs of moderate or severe mitral regurgitation.
Source
Each vendor in one paragraph
Written to be quoted whole. Each paragraph opens the AI Health Index profile of the vendor: what the product is, who buys it and what it does.
Precision oncology company (NASDAQ: CAI) in Irving, Texas, combining whole exome and transcriptome tumor profiling in its own laboratories with AI signatures. MI Cancer Seek was approved by FDA in November 2024 (P240010) with companion diagnostic indications, and the company publishes which results fall inside and outside that label.
Source: AI Health Index, September 2026
Tempus is a precision medicine company listed on NASDAQ as TEM and based in Chicago, whose core business is molecular laboratory testing. Next reads unstructured record data to find patients who have not received guideline directed care, starting with biomarker testing in oncology, and surfaces them to physicians and precision medicine teams; a prospective study of 662 lung cancer patients in six community health systems, presented at ASCO 2026, reported higher biomarker testing rates.
Source: AI Health Index, September 2026
Questions buyers ask
How do Caris Life Sciences and Tempus work with the EHR?
Caris joined Epic's ORA network as the first whole exome and whole transcriptome partner, integrating test ordering and results with structured genomic data inside Epic, and its profiling is available inside Flatiron's OncoEMR for ordering, order tracking and result delivery.
Tempus One in EHR (David) runs inside the electronic health record, with Northwestern Medicine as the deployment Tempus has announced, and Next reads unstructured record data and delivers alerts into clinical workflow. The Next page says workflows are integrated directly into clinical systems and names no record system, standard or marketplace listing. From the AI Health Index, drawn from each vendor's own published materials and the regulatory record, verified September 30, 2026. No vendor pays for placement.
How do Caris Life Sciences and Tempus handle patient data?
Caris states in its annual notice to physicians that it is a covered entity and publishes a HIPAA notice of privacy practices, a separate privacy notice and a Washington health data notice.
Retention periods are not stated, and nothing says whether identifiable data from Next or Tempus One reaches a model provider. From the AI Health Index, drawn from each vendor's own published materials and the regulatory record, verified September 30, 2026. No vendor pays for placement.
Which settings and specialties do Caris Life Sciences and Tempus cover?
Blood-based profiling (Caris Assure) and early detection (Caris Detect) are offered separately.
Next is sold for oncology care gaps, starting with guideline directed biomarker testing, and Tempus also offers cardiology care gap and care pathway solutions; the prospective study behind Next covers early stage lung cancer in six US community health systems. Tempus One in EHR and nP Notetaker are sold to clinicians more broadly. From the AI Health Index, drawn from each vendor's own published materials and the regulatory record, verified September 30, 2026. No vendor pays for placement.
How much do Caris Life Sciences and Tempus leave to the clinician?
For Caris Life Sciences, the label scope table tells the reader which results the FDA approval covers and which it does not, and the Molecular Tumor Board Report is labeled research use only for tumor boards and case consults.
With Tempus, the Software Terms of Use require the customer to ensure every AI output is reviewed by a person for accuracy and appropriateness before any use, and bar relying solely on AI output for clinical decisions; they also offer AI agents without stating what those agents may do on their own. Next surfaces patients to physicians and precision medicine teams, who decide what to do. From the AI Health Index, drawn from each vendor's own published materials and the regulatory record, verified September 30, 2026. No vendor pays for placement.
Related comparisons
Other published head to head assessments involving these vendors or their closest peers.
Both records were reviewed on this site in September 2026. Neither publishes a price for its software or a security attestation of its own. Each company runs the laboratory and reports the performance of what it sells. Tempus's Software Terms of Use say the software is not cleared by FDA and is intended solely for research use, not for informing patient care. Next is marketed to find the next guideline step in a patient's care. The same terms provide AI outputs as is and require the customer to review every output before use. Tempus publishes no missed patient rate for Next. Its FDA clearances cover separate electrocardiogram products, not Next or Tempus One. Tempus's terms let it keep and use a de identified copy of nP Notetaker data for any lawful purpose. Caris shares de identified data with research partners without naming its method. GPSai and FOLFIRSTai are laboratory developed tests outside the approved label. Neither publishes results by ancestry or patient group.
Ask Tempus which governs a clinical deployment of Next, the research use terms or the care marketing, and ask Caris whether a GPSai match with low confidence is flagged on the report.