Merge Labs lands $252M for noninvasive brain–AI interfaces
TL;DR
Brain‑computer interface startup Merge Labs emerged from stealth with a reported $252 million seed round, led by OpenAI and other investors. Coverage on January 16 highlights the lab’s plan to build high‑bandwidth, largely noninvasive BCIs that integrate tightly with advanced AI systems.
About this summary
This article aggregates reporting from 4 news sources. The TL;DR is AI-generated from original reporting. Race to AGI's analysis provides editorial context on implications for AGI development.
Race to AGI Analysis
Merge Labs is the clearest signal yet that top AI players are betting on brain–computer interfaces as a long‑term complement to advanced models. OpenAI is not just a passive investor here; Altman is a co‑founder, and the company explicitly frames BCIs as a way to achieve “seamless AI interactions.” That moves the focus from AGI purely as a software problem to AGI as a human‑machine co‑design challenge, where bandwidth between brains and models becomes a strategic bottleneck.
From a race‑to‑AGI lens, this deal matters for two reasons. First, the capital size—hundreds of millions at seed—puts BCI on the same venture footing as leading model labs a few years ago. That all but guarantees sustained experimentation in noninvasive, AI‑native interfaces that could eventually make advanced models far more practically useful (and potentially more addictive or risky). Second, it sharpens the rivalry with Neuralink and other invasive BCI players: if Merge’s molecular and ultrasound‑based approach works, it could unlock orders‑of‑magnitude more users than an implant‑only path, giving OpenAI a privileged conduit to human intent and data.
