Sam Altman, OpenAI will reportedly back a startup that takes on Musk’s Neuralink

Sam Altman is busy with the co-establishing of a new startup of the brain-to-computer interface called Merge Labs and raising money for the capital that may largely come from the Ventures team of OpenAi, not further mentioned sources told the Financial Times.

The startup is expected to be appreciated at $ 850 million. A source that is familiar with the deal tells WAN that conversations are still early and that OpenAi has not yet dedicated to participation, so that the conditions can change.

Merge Labs reportedly also works together with Alex Blania, who runs Tools for Humanity (formerly World )’s eye-scanning digital ID project that enables everyone to verify their humanity “, as the company describes.

Merge Labs will compete with the Neuralink of Elon Musk, which develops computer interface chips that are designed to be implanted in the brain. Musk founded Neuralink in 2016 (although the existence was not known until 2017) and the company has made serious progress.

Neuralink is Currently in tests With people who suffer from serious paralysis. It is intended to enable them to control devices with their thoughts. It A series E of $ 600 million collected at a $ 9 billion appreciation in June.

Neuralink (and perhaps, Merge Labs) can bring about a revolution in how people deal with technology. Some can even say that their technology could bring humanity to ‘the singularity’.

Long before Silicon Valley became obsessed with the concept of artificial general intelligence (AGI), it was in love with ‘The Singularity’. Musk the term To describe a time in which AI surpasses human intelligence. The more classic definition (after a short story from the 1960s with the same name by Dino Buzzati) means merging technology with people.

Altman flogged About “The Merge” in 2017. “Although the merger has already begun, it will be much stranger. We will be the first species to ever design our own descendants,” he postulated at the time, referring to research that he saw in OpenAi, where Musk was still a co-founder.

Musk left OpenAi in 2018 and the relationship between the two technical leaders has since fallen apart. This week Kibboren Altman and Musk except for X Altman accused Musk From manipulating X and Musk Altman called a liar.

We must wait and see when and whether Merge Labs will be formally announced. But it goes without saying that Altman Musk would not let something as important as the singularity without a challenger.

OpenAi refused comments.