According to Financial Times, Sam Altman is co-founding Merge Labs, a brain-to-computer interface startup, seeking funding potentially from OpenAI’s ventures team, to compete with Elon Musk’s Neuralink.
Merge Labs is currently being established, with an anticipated valuation of $850 million. Sources indicate that discussions regarding funding are in preliminary stages, and OpenAI has not yet finalized its participation. The terms of this potential investment remain subject to change as negotiations proceed. This new venture aims to develop technologies that facilitate direct interaction between the human brain and computer systems.
In addition to seeking capital, Merge Labs is reportedly collaborating with Alex Blania, who leads Tools for Humanity. Tools for Humanity, previously known as World, manages Altman’s digital identity project that utilizes eye-scanning technology. This project is designed to enable individuals to verify their human identity through a unique digital signature derived from their biometric data. The involvement of Tools for Humanity suggests a potential integration of identity verification or biometric security into Merge Labs’ brain-to-computer interface functionalities.
Merge Labs will enter a competitive landscape, directly challenging Elon Musk’s Neuralink. Neuralink, founded by Musk in 2016 and publicly known since 2017, focuses on developing implantable computer interface chips for direct brain integration. Neuralink has advanced to human trials, specifically working with individuals experiencing severe paralysis. The company’s primary objective in these trials is to enable participants to control external devices solely through their thoughts, thereby restoring a degree of functional independence. Neuralink recently secured significant investment, raising $600 million in a Series E funding round in June, which valued the company at $9 billion.
The concept of “The Merge” has been a topic of discussion among technology leaders, including Sam Altman, who blogged about it in 2017. At that time, Altman postulated that humanity was already beginning to integrate with technology, stating, “Although the merge has already begun, it’s going to get a lot weirder. We will be the first species ever to design our own descendants.” This statement referenced research observed at OpenAI during a period when Elon Musk was still a co-founder of the organization. Musk departed from OpenAI in 2018. The relationship between Altman and Musk has since deteriorated, evidenced by recent public disagreements on the social media platform X, where Altman accused Musk of manipulation and Musk responded by labeling Altman as dishonest.
