GeneDx vs Tempus (2026)
Both run laboratories and sell software on top, and they are pointed at different patients. GeneDx is rare disease diagnosis, applying AI and expert variant interpretation to exome and genome sequencing, measured on how many previously undiagnosed patients get an answer. Tempus is indexed here for the provider software rather than the laboratory: oncology decision support that flags patients drifting off guideline care, physician tooling, and the most complete health privacy disclosure in this category. A paediatric or rare disease service buys GeneDx. An oncology programme buys Tempus. The question neither answers, and the one that should be put to both, is diagnostic yield by ancestry, because reference databases skew European and uncertain results fall disproportionately on everyone else.
- It is a diagnostic service for rare disease, applying models and expert variant interpretation to exome and genome sequencing where the measure is diagnostic yield.
- For a paediatric or rare disease programme, interpretation depth is the product rather than the sequencing itself.
- The clinical purpose is narrow and clear, which makes the performance question answerable rather than diffuse.
- The provider software is the indexed product rather than the laboratory, so a health system buys decision support and physician tooling rather than a test result.
- The health privacy disclosure is the most complete in this category, earned by documenting both the laboratory role and the software role.
- Oncology decision support flags patients drifting off guideline care, which is a different job from returning a variant report.
This comparison is published by AI Health Index, an independent research platform that compares healthcare AI vendors objectively. GeneDx 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 | GeneDx | Tempus |
|---|---|---|
| Primary category | Diagnostics & Genomics | Clinical Decision Support |
| Headquarters | Gaithersburg, Maryland | Chicago, Illinois |
| Website | genedx.com | tempus.com |
Side by Side
Each record in one paragraph
Written to be quoted whole. Each paragraph states what the AI Health Index verified about the vendor, with the caveats attached. Generated from this pair’s live capability grades, so it moves when a grade moves.
The AI Health Index awards GeneDx its top capability grade on Clinical and Operational Evidence, HIPAA and BAA Posture and Setting and Specialty Coverage. Set against Tempus, GeneDx grades higher on several axes, including Model Supply Chain Disclosure, Clinical and Operational Evidence and AI Safety and PHI Stewardship. Grades reflect evidence the AI Health Index could verify at the last review, so a low grade records disclosure the vendor has not published rather than a capability it has been shown to lack.
Source: AI Health Index, August 2026
The AI Health Index awards Tempus its top capability grade on AI Centrality and HIPAA and BAA Posture. Set against GeneDx, Tempus grades higher on AI Centrality, Autonomy and Oversight Model and Commercial Transparency. Its thinnest published disclosure sits on AI Liability and Recourse. Grades reflect evidence the AI Health Index could verify at the last review, so a low grade records disclosure the vendor has not published rather than a capability it has been shown to lack.
Source: AI Health Index, August 2026
Questions buyers ask
Should we choose GeneDx or Tempus?
On the axes where the AI Health Index separates them, GeneDx grades higher on several axes, including Model Supply Chain Disclosure, Clinical and Operational Evidence and AI Safety and PHI Stewardship, and Tempus grades higher on AI Centrality, Autonomy and Oversight Model and Commercial Transparency. GeneDx leads on the greater share of scored axes, but the split means the decision turns on which constraint is binding rather than on an overall winner.
Where do GeneDx and Tempus differ most?
The widest separation the AI Health Index records between GeneDx and Tempus is on Model Supply Chain Disclosure, where GeneDx grades B and Tempus grades C. That axis sits in the AI Capability group, so it should carry the most weight for a buyer whose binding constraint is how much of the work the model itself is trusted to do.
Where do GeneDx and Tempus grade the same?
The AI Health Index grades GeneDx and Tempus the same on several axes, including Model and Technology Transparency, HIPAA and BAA Posture and Security Certifications and Trust Center. Neither holds an advantage the index can evidence on those axes, so they should not carry weight in a selection between these two.
What have GeneDx and Tempus not disclosed?
At the last review, at least one of GeneDx and Tempus published thin or absent detail on AI Liability and Recourse. The AI Health Index treats an absent disclosure as a gap in the public record rather than a failure of the product, so these are the axes to get in writing during diligence instead of inferring from the grade.
Related comparisons
Other published head to head assessments involving these vendors or their closest peers. The full set for this category is on the Diagnostics & Genomics page.
Both companies operate their own laboratories and sell software built on the data those laboratories generate, so the same organisation orders the analysis, produces the result and reports the performance. The shared unaddressed exposure is ancestral representation: reference databases and published variant evidence skew heavily European, so variants of uncertain significance return more often for everyone else, and neither publishes yield or interpretation performance by ancestry. Genomic data is permanent, cannot be revoked once disclosed and implicates biological relatives who never consented.