OpenAI has signaled its intentions to become a major player in brain computer interfaces (BCIs). The scale of the firm’s first round of investment in Merge Labs, as it emerges from stealth mode, places it among the most heavily funded BCI efforts in the U.S., second only to Neuralink.
That’s because Merge Labs, co-founded by Altman, will be going forward with $252 million in its tech advancement war chest, reports Bloomberg. However, it admits there's a long road ahead.
OpenAI wasn’t the only contributor in this investment round, but it was the biggest. Another notable investor was Gabe Newell, co-founder of Valve, which owns the gaming storefront Steam. Newell’s hat is already in this ring with his own brain tech company, Starfish Neuroscience.
