Altman’s Merge Labs Aims to Rival Musk’s Neuralink in Brain-Computer Interface Race

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, is making moves to compete with Elon Musk’s Neuralink. He’s working on a new company called Merge Labs, which is focused on brain-to-computer interfaces. This startup is currently in its initial phase and is valued at about $850 million, equivalent to roughly 7,434 crore. The funding for Merge Labs is likely coming from OpenAI’s ventures arm, but nothing has been finalized yet. Alex Blania from Tools for Humanity may also be part of the project. Tools for Humanity is known for an eye-scanning device used to verify a person’s identity. This is the same company behind the biometric ID project, ‘World’, planning to deploy eye-scanning technology in public spaces across the US and UK. Merge Labs plans to enter the same market as Neuralink, which was founded in 2016. Neuralink is developing brain-implantable chips that could help paralyzed individuals control devices with their minds. Neuralink is currently undergoing human trials and successfully raised $600 million earlier this year, valued at $9 billion. Both companies are developing revolutionary technologies that will significantly transform how people interact with technology.