OpenAI has invested in Merge Labs, a new startup from CEO Sam Altman that is developing a brain-computer interface. The project says it wants to make the technology implant-free and enter the field where Elon Musk’s Neuralink is already working.
OpenAI has invested in Merge Labs, a new startup from CEO Sam Altman that is developing a brain-computer interface. The project says it wants to make the technology implant-free and enter the field where Elon Musk’s Neuralink is already working.
According to TechCrunch, Merge Labs has emerged from hibernation with a $250 million seed round at a valuation of $850 million. The publication writes that OpenAI wrote the largest single check in the round. Merge Labs describes itself as a research lab that wants to «merge biological and artificial intelligence» to help restore lost capabilities and expand human interaction with technology in the future.
The key difference between Merge Labs and Neuralink is that they promise to do without surgery. The team says it is developing a non-invasive approach: instead of electrodes in the brain, it wants to «connect» to neurons with molecules and use methods such as ultrasound to transmit and read information. Neuralink, on the other hand, works through an implant: during surgery, a robot inserts thin electrode threads into the brain to read signals.
OpenAI, in its own commentary, called BCI «an important new direction» and explained that such interfaces could give people a more natural way to interact with AI. The companies also plan to collaborate on scientific models and tools that should accelerate research. The logic is simple: AI can help develop bioengineering solutions, and the interface itself requires algorithms that can understand human intent even with weak and «noisy» signals.
TechCrunch names Alex Blania and Sandro Gerbig (Tools for Humanity) as well as Tyson Aflalo and Sumner Norman (Forest Neurotech) and Caltech researcher Mikhail Shapiro as co-founders of Merge Labs.
Neuralink raised $650 million in 2025 at a $9 billion valuation and is already implanting devices into people with severe paralysis. Merge Labs is still only outlining the approach and not showing a finished product, but OpenAI’s investment reinforces Altman’s bet on the idea of "merging» humans and AI, which he has been talking about for years.
Previously, dev.ua wrote about how OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and legendary designer Jony Ive, known for working on key Apple products, are working on an innovative display-free AI device that could become a new format for interacting with artificial intelligence in everyday life.
