The Financial Times reported, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman co-founded a startup called Merge Labs with others, which is expected to compete with Elon Musk's brain-computer interface company Neuralink, as well as companies in the same market field including Precision Neuroscience and Synchron.
In addition to Sam Altman, including Sam Altman's past co-foundedStartup WorldIts CEO Alex Blania will also become one of the co-founders of Merge Labs, but the main investment funds will still come from OpenAI's venture capital team, which will provide approximately US$8.5 million.
The name Merge Labs comes from the term "merge" mentioned by Sam Altman in 2017, which means combining the human brain and computer to enable humans to "evolve" more.
Sam Altman has long been interested in the applications of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), even predicting they would become widespread as early as 2025. While some industry insiders, including Neuralink, suggest BCI technology has yet to reach mainstream adoption, Altman anticipates that new technologies will drive the development of high-bandwidth BCIs soon.
After its establishment, Merge Labs will become a direct competitor to similar companies such as Neuralink, and is also expected to deepen the verbal battle between Elon Musk and Sam Altman.
