{"id":20300,"date":"2026-01-16T19:48:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T19:48:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2026\/01\/16\/sam-altmans-latest-startup-takes-on-elon-musks-neuralink\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T19:48:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T19:48:25","slug":"sam-altmans-latest-startup-takes-on-elon-musks-neuralink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2026\/01\/16\/sam-altmans-latest-startup-takes-on-elon-musks-neuralink\/","title":{"rendered":"Sam Altman\u2019s Latest Startup Takes On Elon Musk\u2019s Neuralink"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sam Altman is adding a brain-computer interface startup to his growing portfolio of startups outside of OpenAI. Andrew Harnik\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One might think running OpenAI<\/a> would be enough to keep Sam Altman<\/a> occupied. But the CEO is also behind a diverse array of other startups, including Tools for Humanity, the company running the biometric data effort Worldcoin, and the nuclear fusion project Helion<\/a>. Now, Altman is adding Merge Labs to that list.<\/p>\n

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Co-founded by Altman, Merge is a brain-computer interface (BCI) startup that came out of stealth yesterday (Jan. 15) with $252 million in seed funding. Initial investors in the San Francisco-based company, which hasn\u2019t disclosed its valuation, include OpenAI, Bain Capital<\/a> and video game developer Gabe Newell<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The venture is reportedly a spin-off of Forest Neurotech<\/a>, a California-based BCI nonprofit established by Tyson Aflalo<\/a> and Sumner Norman<\/a>, both of whom are also co-founders of Merge. Other co-founders include Alex Blania<\/a> and Sandro Herbig<\/a>, who respectively serve as CEO and product and engineering lead at Tools for Humanity, as well as Caltech researcher Mikhail Shapiro<\/a>. Merge is currently hiring for nearly 20 open roles, ranging from computational neuroscientists to immunology experts and machine learning researchers.<\/p>\n

Merge\u2019s vision of BCIs, which allow human brains to communicate with external devices, aims to eventually combine biological intelligence with A.I. \u201cWe\u2019re pursuing this goal by developing fundamentally new approaches to [BCIs] that interact with the brain at high bandwidth<\/a>, integrate with advanced A.I., and are ultimately safe and accessible for anyone to use,\u201d the startup said in a blog post, adding that it is thinking about the effort \u201cin decades rather than years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Altman, who, alongside his fellow co-founders, will serve on Merge Labs\u2019 board, previously wrote about merging humans and machines in a 2017 blog post focused on \u201cthe merge<\/a>,\u201d a theory that has gained traction in Silicon Valley. \u201cI believe the merge has already started, and we are a few years in,\u201d said Altman at the time, pointing to the integration of phones, social media and search engines throughout society. \u201cIt would be good for the entire world to start taking this a lot more seriously now.\u201d<\/p>\n

OpenAI isn\u2019t just backing Merge\u2014it\u2019s also collaborating with it. Given that A.I. will play a key role in the venture, OpenAI said it will help Merge work on projects such as scientific foundation models, among other frontier tools. \u201cWe are excited to support and collaborate with Merge Labs <\/a>as they turn an ambitious idea into reality and ultimately products that are useful for people,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n

The crowded BCI space<\/h3>\n

The launch of Merge marks a new entrant into an increasingly crowded space. Rivals include Synchron, which raised $200 million last November at a nearly $1 billion valuation and places its devices in blood vessels to bring mobility to patients. The company has partnered with Nvidia<\/a> to advance its technology.<\/p>\n

Elon Musk<\/a>\u2019s Neuralink<\/a>, meanwhile, is the current leader in the BCI space and is valued at $9 billion following a $650 million funding round in June. With an initial aim of helping restore autonomy to people with paralysis, the venture\u2019s technology\u2014which involves inserting threads into the brain\u2014has already been implanted into a handful of patients.<\/p>\n

One way Merge hopes to differentiate itself from established players like Neuralink is through an emphasis on achieving BCI without invasive surgery. \u201cTo make this happen, we\u2019re developing entirely new technologies that connect with neurons using molecules instead of electrodes, transmit and receive information using deep-reaching modalities like ultrasound, and avoid implants into brain tissue,\u201d said the startup. \u201cRecent breakthroughs in biotechnology, hardware, neuroscience, and computing made by our team and others convince us that this is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Sam<\/p><\/div>\n