UCSF adopts ChatGPT Enterprise to power secure AI transformation across campus in 2026

The University of California, San Francisco will replace its in-house Versa Chat platform with OpenAI’s enterprise-grade system to expand AI use across research, education, and clinical care.

The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has confirmed that it will deploy ChatGPT Enterprise across its organization in early 2026, replacing its internal Versa Chat platform.

The news was first announced in a LinkedIn post by OpenAI for Business and expanded upon in a letter to the UCSF community from Joe R. Bengfort, Senior Vice President, Associate Vice Chancellor, and UCSF Enterprise CIO.

UCSF, one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, said the move will extend secure access to generative AI tools across the university’s research, education, and healthcare operations. ChatGPT Enterprise, powered by OpenAI’s GPT-5 model, offers enterprise-level data safeguards designed to support HIPAA compliance, a critical requirement in clinical and research settings.

In his letter, Bengfort wrote: “ChatGPT Enterprise is a data-secure AI platform powered by OpenAI’s latest AI models, including GPT-5. UCSF’s ChatGPT Enterprise will replace UCSF’s Versa Chat tool and will be available on Web, iOS, and Android, enabling the UCSF community to utilize the industry’s most advanced AI platform while maintaining user privacy and the security of our data.”

Bengfort added that the enterprise version would build on the success of UCSF’s Versa platform, which currently provides private and secure access to generative AI.

Early 2026 rollout planned

Approximately 9,000 Versa Chat users will migrate to ChatGPT Enterprise in the first phase of deployment, with the transition of more than 100 Versa Assistants to follow later. UCSF expects to share a detailed migration timeline and OpenAI training opportunities closer to rollout.

In the LinkedIn post, OpenAI for Business wrote: “They’re adopting ChatGPT Enterprise to bring AI into everyday work across clinical research, education, administration, teaching, and care. UCSF will replace its Versa Chat tool with ChatGPT Enterprise, which will continue to uphold UCSF’s enterprise-level safeguards to support HIPAA compliance, allowing clinicians, researchers, staff, and students to utilize AI.”

The university also confirmed that its Versa API will remain in operation, continuing to provide secure access to large language models from multiple vendors and developers, including OpenAI, Anthropic, AWS, and Azure.

UCSF’s Enterprise AI team, led by Joseph Owens, Principal Product Manager for Enterprise AI, will manage the transition. Owens, who previously worked at Google, Verily, and McKinsey, commented on the announcement in response to the LinkedIn post.

Joseph Owens says: “As the PM for UCSF Versa, I’m so excited to get out of the chatbot building business ;)

And more seriously, this will be a wonderful migration that will provide ample opportunity for our >40k person community. And most importantly, by leveraging ChatGPT Enterprise, we’ll continue to protect our user’s privacy and enterprise’s security in their use of generative AI technology.”

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