OpenAI is investing in Sam Altman's new brain computer interface startup, Merge Labs.
This is super interesting because we of course know that this isn't a new area.
Elon Musk has famously been working on a brain interface company, Neuralink, for quite a while.
And I think we've seen on X and other social media platforms some of the really interesting videos of people using this.
So I think it's becoming more familiar.
And I think when this kind of Neuralink first came out, there was a lot of uh fear around it, essentially the fact that look, do we really want to put a computer into our brain?
How's that can impact us?
I think a lot of people were like look random, everyday people are going to be walking around with computer chips in their brain to help augment how smart they are.
And in reality i think we've seen that it's being used by people with uh, you know that are paralyzed or have other other challenges where they're not able to actually write or talk or speak or communicate or do things.
And all of the sudden, this is enabling all of that.
And Elon Musk recently went on and said that he believes in Neuralink and other tools like this.
Basically, these brain computer interface startups, merged with AI, are going to bring back the functionality of people to all areas of the body where they never had it before, whether that's their arms or legs if they're paralyzed.
And maybe part of that is like you'll have robotics arms, but you'll be able to move them by thinking about it and different things like that.
And some people think you can stimulate parts of the brain to bring back movement to paralyzed parts of your body.
So there's like a lot of crazy science going on.
There's a lot that is going to happen in the future.
But with all of that it looks like Sam Altman is getting into this race with Merge Labs, his new brain computer interface startup.
We're going to be talking about the deal, why OpenAI is investing, how the circular deal in AI is going to play out.
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All right, let's get into the state of brain computer interfaces.
So This is a company called Merge Labs, and they are describing themselves as a research lab.
So it's not like they have this big product that they're coming out with right away.
This is definitely a research lab, but they are focused on connecting human brains directly to artificial intelligence.
So it just came out of stealth.
This week, it has a massive seed round.
So they didn't disclose a lot of the details about it, but sources are saying that OpenAI wrote a check in this 250 million round that valued them at 850 million.
So because Sam Altman is involved, just for basically having him involved, there is now a billion, almost a billion dollar company that is coming out of stealth.
If you take a look at all of their like launch materials, they have a super ambitious vision basically, human experience.
The company says is going to come from billions of neurons firing in the brain.
They say, if technology can connect to those neurons at scale.
They're claiming that the results could be restoring abilities to people with disabilities, healthier mental states, deeper human connection and entirely new ways to create alongside AI.
Now, to be honest, it feels kind of dystopian and terrifying, especially when you have a company like OpenAI, a massive company.
AI company interfacing directly into your brain.
It no longer is, you know, like there was something about Neuralink.
I think that was really creepy at the beginning, and then it was like well, maybe it's not that creepy because it's not just Google inside your brain, like you can just think and you can, you know, like draw things without having arms or like you know, and so kind of restored some of some function functionality that you didn't have and for some reason that seems normal to me, But all of a sudden, with something like Merge Labs, I'm sure I'm the one that sounds crazy here.
Everyone's going to think this is super normal.
But like when, all of a sudden, you have this brain interface and you have ChatGPT inside your head and instead of going to ChatGPTcom and asking questions, you just think of the question and all of a sudden your brain fills it out.
It's probably going to seem normal in the future, but that seems so dystopian and terrifying to me.
Like, I don't know.
It's honestly like mortifying in a way.
Unlike existing brain interface companies, Merge Labs.
They said that they want to avoid brain surgery altogether, which I am a huge advocate of.
I really hate putting something inside your physical brain.
So, instead of implementing hardware though, they said that they're going to develop new methods that communicate with neurons, using molecules rather than electrodes.
So electrodes is when you have to do surgeries.
So they say that they are going to send and receive signals using things like ultrasound.
The science is still very early, but I think this kind of promise of a brain interface that works without opening up your skull is appealing to some people and maybe terrifying in other ways.
I think this investment is putting Sam Altman on a really direct collision course and competition with Elon Musk, who's also building a brain computer interface.
Neuralink's approach, I think, is a lot more invasive.
So far.
It requires surgery during which a robot removes a small piece of your skull and then they insert tiny wires inside into your brain to read neural signals.
Neuralink is currently focused on helping people with some really severe paralysis and it's helping them to control computers or devices using their thoughts.
They have raised $650 million last year to $9 billion valuation.
And they already have some really kind of high profile test cases where they've shown off.
People are actively using this and talking about it.
I think, while medical uses for brain interfaces are really widely acknowledged, Merge Labs it looks like it's kind of more focused on a broader vision.
That has been really interesting to Silicon Valley.
It's been quite fascinating to them for a long time.
But that vision kind of centers on blending human biology with AI to enhance intelligence right.
So Neuralink, it felt like it's kind of helping people with disabilities, whereas this feels more like a superpower AI inside of your brain opening.
I had this really crazy blog post they put out and they were essentially was just announcing like this deal and how they were gonna invest in the company and stuff.
But something they said there just really was like crazy to me.
You know they're like.
This is a new way for people to communicate and learn and interact with technology.
The thing that was really crazy to me is they said that it was a more natural and human-centered interface for AI systems.
Like really going straight into my brain via an ultrasound, is a more natural way to interface with AI.
Like, so freaking...
In any case, Merge Labs' founding team is, I think, reflecting Sam Altman's kind of wider network.
In addition to him, they also have leaders from Tools for Humanity, which is a company behind the eye scanning world orbs that he has, as well as founders from an implant brain technology startup and researchers from the California Institute of Technology.
As part of this investment, he is planning to work closely with them on kind of these advanced AI models and research tools.
I'm sure he's just going to give them like a lot of resources from open AI.
It's kind of like how Elon Musk is really involved with Neuralink and anytime they have a big new product announcement, it's like Elon Musk is out there doing it and it kind of gets good PR.
But
Obviously, Elon Musk isn't there day to day like training the models.
So I think it's going to be the same thing with Sam Altman.
Right now OpenAI is arguing that AI can speed up the progress in neuroscience and kind of like bioengineering and device design, and that these kind of brain interfaces themselves are going to need AI systems capable of interpreting this messy, incomplete brain signals and adopting it to individual users.
If you want to put that a little bit more simply essentially, merge labs is going to eventually become a hands-free way to control opening eyes software and then it's just directed with your brain.
So you're just chilling and you, you just think like chat gpt, how do you xyz?
And then poof, it pops in your head.
I mean, how much of that is possible?
Or if you're going to maybe think it and instead of it popping into your head, it's going to like pop up on your phone.
I think it's going to be interesting.
I think this is where kind of the circular logic of the deal becomes really hard to ignore, because if Merge Labs is successful, it could funnel more users towards OpenAI's products, which is going to reinforce the value of OpeningEye's investment.
So at the same time, it's also gonna increase the value of a startup owned by the CEO of OpeningEye, which is using the resources and credibility of the company that he runs.
In any case, I mean, I'm not too... mad about that element of it.
I think there's a lot of circular investing happening with all of the Silicon Valley AI companies right now.
I mean, OpenAI is not a stranger to this.
I think some parts of the company are maybe more concerning to me.
In any case, this is not the only hardware bet that OpenAI is making, right?
If you remember, they're also working with Johnny Ives Startup IO, which they acquired last year or merged with or whatever, to build an AI device that's not gonna just rely on screens.
So you imagine like a little puck that you leave on your desk and it's like a smart speaker that you talk to.
I mean, they haven't revealed the official form factor, but this is kind of where we're thinking it's gonna go.
Some people think that it might be more like an earbud, but in any case, OpenAI typically invests through its startup fund, which has backed several other companies.
Which is connected to Sam Altman.
It's also signed commercial agreements with a bunch of energy startups that Sam Altman personally owns or leads which, of course, is tricky.
I mean obviously, a lot of these things are in the best interest of OpenAI, but they're also in Sam Altman's personal best interest when he starts a company and then has his company invest in the company.
So I mean I'll leave that up to Sam Altman and the board to unravel.
But One thing that's interesting is that Sam Altman has been really publicly thinking about what he calls quote the merge for years.
In 2017 in a blog post.
He predicted that humans and machines would merge into some form between 2025 and 2075.
He suggested that this could be through direct brain connections or even through deep, constant interaction with AI systems.
So, in Sam Altman's view, merging with AI might be humanity's best chance of staying relevant in the future, where artificial intelligence becomes more powerful than humans.
He's framed super intelligent AI as something that's like a new species, one that could end up competing with us unless we find a way to, you know, integrate with it.
And this is something that was in his blog post.
He wrote, quote, the merge has already begun and it's going to get a lot stranger.
We will be the first species to design our own descendants.
So whether Merge Labs becomes a medical breakthrough, a futuristic interface or maybe another hyped Silicon Valley experiment I think this is, you know still remains to be seen.
We're gonna see what happens here.
I do think that the deal is gonna make one thing clear.
The push to kind of blend human and AI is no longer science fiction.
It's now being funded, staffed, built by the same people that are shaping the future of AI.
So it's gonna be interesting.
And only time will tell if Sam Altman was right and the merge has already begun.
Thanks so much for tuning into the podcast today.
If you learned anything new and if this was interesting to you, make sure to go check out AIboxai, my own startup, where you can build AI tools and get access to the top 40 different AI models for 20 bucks a month in one place.
Hope you guys all have a fantastic rest of your day.
