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OpenAI potential backing for Merge Labs
Merge Labs led by Sam Altman eyes funding as it aims to rival Neuralink.
Merge Labs led by Sam Altman seeks major funding with OpenAI's venture arm eyed as a potential backer as it aims to rival Neuralink.
Altman and OpenAI Back Merge Labs to Challenge Neuralink
Merge Labs, co founded by Sam Altman, is pursuing a brain to computer interface startup and is drawing interest from OpenAI’s ventures team, which could provide a major portion of the capital, though terms are not set and no commitment has been made. The company is valued at about 850 million and is said to be working with Alex Blania of Tools for Humanity on strategy.
Key Takeaways
"We will be the first species ever to design our own descendants"
Altman blog post from 2017 cited in coverage
"The merge has already begun it's going to get a lot weirder"
Altman blog post from 2017 cited in coverage
"A real test will be whether patient safety keeps pace with ambition"
bioethics expert quoted in coverage
"OpenAI's involvement could redefine how AI bets are judged"
tech investor perspective in coverage
Merge Labs would compete with Elon Musk’s Neuralink, which is testing implant devices in people with paralysis and recently raised 600 million in a Series E at a 9 billion valuation. The field carries big promise and big risk, with safety, ethics and governance on the horizon as capital flows into frontier tech. If OpenAI backs the project, it would mark a bold step for an AI focused firm moving deeper into hardware and human centered tech.
Highlights
- The merge has already begun, it's going to get a lot weirder
- We will be the first species to design our own descendants
- A new era demands new rules as tech doubles down on the human body
- Investors chasing a future that may outpace regulators
Investors and policy risk in brain tech
The move blends high level venture capital with invasive biomedical tech, raising questions about safety governance and possible conflicts of interest. Public reaction and regulatory scrutiny could shape the pace of development.
The road from lab bench to bedside is long and the map is still being drawn.
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