Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, is co-founding a new brain-computer interface company called Merge Labs, which aims to compete directly with Elon Musk’s Neuralink, the Financial Times reported.
According to the report, Merge Labs is seeking to raise about $250 million in funding at a valuation of approximately $850 million, with much of the capital expected from OpenAI’s ventures arm.
Altman is not expected to invest his own money and will not have a day-to-day operational role, the publication said.
Merge Labs is being launched with Alex Blania, head of Tools for Humanity, also known for the World ID project that uses eye-scanning technology for biometric digital identity.
The company will focus on building high-bandwidth brain-computer interfaces that use recent advances in artificial intelligence to connect human brains with computers.
Its approach will reportedly aim for less invasive implants than Neuralink’s, with applications extending beyond medical use into broader human–AI integration.
Neuralink, founded by Musk in 2016, has developed brain implants that have been used in trials with severely paralyzed patients, enabling them to control devices by thought. The company was valued at about $9 billion following a $600 million funding round completed in May.
According to the FT report, the name of Altman’s startup refers to “the merge,” a concept in Silicon Valley describing a future moment when humans and machines converge.
Altman wrote about the idea in 2017, speculating it could occur as early as 2025, and has more recently suggested that technological progress may soon make high-bandwidth interfaces possible.