OpenAI, cofounder Sam Altman to take on Neuralink with new startup (arstechnica.com)

OpenAI cofounder Sam Altman is backing a new startup, Merge Labs, aimed at developing advanced brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) to directly connect human brains with computers, positioning it as a competitor to Elon Musk’s Neuralink. Valued at $850 million in its current fundraising round, much of the investment is expected to come from OpenAI’s ventures team. While Altman will cofound Merge Labs, he will not be involved in its day-to-day operations. The company is led by Alex Blania, known for the digital ID project World, also supported by Altman. Merge Labs seeks to capitalize on recent AI breakthroughs to create more powerful and practical BCIs, reflecting Altman’s long-standing vision of a future where humans and machines "merge." This concept, which he detailed in a 2017 blog post, envisions a time—potentially as soon as 2025—when high-bandwidth brain-computer communication becomes feasible. The new venture highlights growing interest in integrating AI with neural technology to boost cognitive capabilities, potentially transforming fields from healthcare to human augmentation. This move marks a significant development in the AI/ML community as it combines cutting-edge machine learning advances with neurotechnology, accelerating the race toward more seamless human-computer integration. As Merge Labs progresses, it could spur innovation and competition in BCI architectures, signal processing, and AI-driven neural decoding, shaping the next frontier of AI-human symbiosis.