On Thursday, OpenAI announced its investment in neurotech startup Merge Labs, cofounded by its CEO, billionaire Sam Altman. OpenAI will collaborate with the new venture to develop technology to link people’s brains to computers.
Merge Labs has raised $252 million in funding from OpenAI, private investment firm Bain Capital, video game developer Gabe Newell, and others to use ultrasound to read and modulate the brain.
Merge joins a growing number of companies, including Elon Musk’s Neuralink, that are developing brain-computer interface technology. Its name comes from the Silicon Valley concept of “the merge,” the hypothetical point at which humans and machine intelligence combine to form a hybrid consciousness, which Altman has written about. Altman previously invested in Musk’s Neuralink, which has raised $1.3 billion.
In contrast to Neuralink, Merge says it will not implant its technology in the brain. “We’re developing entirely new technologies that connect with neurons using molecules instead of electrodes, transmit and receive information using deep-reaching modalities like ultrasound, and avoid implants into brain tissue,” the company says on its website. Merge envisions interfaces that are “equal parts biology, device, and AI in a form factor that we ourselves want to use and is broadly accessible.”
AI will play a major role in Merge’s approach. “High-bandwidth interfaces will benefit from AI operating systems that can interpret intent, adapt to individuals, and operate reliably with limited and noisy signals,” according to the announcement from OpenAI. “OpenAI will collaborate with Merge Labs on scientific foundation models and other frontier tools to accelerate progress.”
Synchron, another brain-computer interface startup, which has raised $345 million to date, is working with chipmaker Nvidia to develop foundation models for the brain. The idea is that these AI models would learn from large amounts of brain data to create interfaces that are more intuitive with a larger range of abilities. Right now, brain-computer interfaces allow paralyzed individuals to do things like move computer cursors and robotic arms, but in the future these systems might be able to perform more complex tasks with the help of AI.
Merge is a spinoff of the nonprofit Forest Neurotech, a Los Angeles–based nonprofit research organization formed in 2023, and several cofounders of Merge are also affiliated with Forest, a relationship that WIRED first reported on in December. Forest will continue as a nonprofit entity while also collaborating with Merge, according to a blog post from its parent organization.
Merge has not specified what applications it will pursue, but Forest’s interest in mental health disorders and brain injury may provide some clues about the company’s initial direction. A miniaturized ultrasound device developed by Forest is being studied in an early safety trial in the UK.
Most brain-computer interfaces, including those from Neuralink and Synchron, measure electrical activity directly from neurons. An ultrasound-based device, meanwhile, interprets neural activity indirectly by detecting changes in the brain’s blood flow. At least 12 volunteers have received a Neuralink implant so far, while 10 participants have gotten Synchron’s device, which is implanted in a blood vessel next to the brain rather than in the brain tissue itself.
In addition to Altman, Merge Labs’ cofounders include researchers Mikhail Shapiro, Tyson Aflalo, and Sumner Norman, as well as tech entrepreneurs Alex Blania and Sandro Herbig. The company is hiring for a number of positions.