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New data center will be partially powered by human brain cells for the first time

A blue glowing brain inside a drawn head against a black background. .

An Australian startup is building what could become one of the world's first "biological data centers" — augmenting silicon computing chips with those seeded with living human neurons.

Cortical Labs, the company behind the effort, has opened its first facility in Melbourne, Australia, and is planning a larger site in Singapore. Instead of racks filled entirely with traditional servers, these sites will house the company's CL1 systems, which combine lab-grown neurons with standard electronic components. The aim is not to replace silicon outright but to explore whether living neural systems can complement existing hardware in specific computing tasks.

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