OpenAI recently confirmed its participation in the seed round of financing of Merge Labs, a brain-computer interface startup founded by its CEO Sam Altman. The entire round of financing is US$250 million, valuing the company at approximately US$850 million.According to people familiar with the matter, OpenAI wrote the largest check in this round, making this internal "circular transaction" further attract the attention of the industry. Merge Labs, which describes itself as a "research lab" dedicated to "connecting biological intelligence and artificial intelligence to maximize human capabilities," officially emerged from stealth on Thursday.
According to a statement released by Merge Labs, human beings’ subjective experience of the world comes from billions of active neurons. If an interface can be established with these neurons on a large scale, there is a chance to restore damaged abilities, improve brain health, deepen the connections between humans, and expand the boundaries of human imagination and creativity with advanced AI. Different from the current brain-computer solution that mainly implants electrodes, Merge Labs emphasizes the transmission and reading of neuronal information through a new technology of "molecules rather than electrodes", using deep action methods such as ultrasound, and claims that this path will be non-invasive.
This move is also seen as a deepening of the competition between Altman and Elon Musk in the field of brain-computer interfaces. Neuralink, owned by Musk, is advancing implantable chips that allow severely paralyzed patients to control devices with their thoughts, but this solution requires removing part of the skull through a surgical robot and implanting ultra-thin electrode wires into the brain to read nerve signals. Neuralink completed a US$650 million Series E round of financing in 2025, with a valuation of approximately US$9 billion. Medical scenarios are still its main application narrative.
In contrast, while emphasizing potential medical uses, Merge Labs also highlights Silicon Valley's long-standing imagination of "human-machine integration", that is, by deeply integrating human biology with AI, humans can gain some kind of "superpowers." OpenAI stated in a supporting blog that brain-computer interface is an "important new frontier" that will open up new ways for humans to interact, communicate and learn with technology, and is expected to become a natural and human-oriented interface for seamless interaction between humans and AI. This is also the core reason why OpenAI participated in this round of financing.
The terms of the deal show that OpenAI will cooperate with Merge Labs on scientific basic models and other cutting-edge tools to "accelerate progress." OpenAI pointed out that AI will not only significantly speed up research and development processes such as bioengineering, neuroscience, and equipment engineering, but will also help such interfaces better "interpret human intentions" through new AI operating systems, adapt to individual differences, and maintain reliable operation under conditions of limited signals and high noise. In short, once the technology matures, Merge Labs' equipment is expected to become a kind of "remote control" for the OpenAI software, which further highlights the cyclical nature of the deal: if Merge Labs succeeds, it will bring more users and data to OpenAI, and OpenAI's investment in it will also benefit financially.
The lineup of Merge Labs’ founding team is equally impressive. In addition to Altman, the team includes CEO Alex Blania and head of product and engineering Sandro Herbig of Tools for Humanity, the company behind the eye-scanning device Worldcoin; Tyson Aflalo and Sumner Norman, co-founders of implantable neurotechnology company Forest Neurotech; and Mikhail Shapiro, a longtime researcher at Caltech.
This is not the first time OpenAI has taken action on Altman-related projects. Through the OpenAI Startup Fund, OpenAI has invested in a number of startups with close ties to Altman, including biotech company Red Queen Bio, AI chip company Rain AI, and legal technology company Harvey. In addition, OpenAI also signed business cooperation agreements with the nuclear fusion company Helion Energy and the nuclear fission company Oklo, in which Altman personally holds shares or serves as chairman, once again triggering outside discussions on "intertwined interests" and the boundaries of corporate governance.
At the hardware layout level, OpenAI is also working with io, a startup founded by Jony Ive, to create an AI hardware device that does not rely on a screen. This company was acquired by OpenAI last year for approximately US$6.5 billion. There have been unconfirmed reports recently that the device may be similar to headphones or earbuds. If it is advanced at the same time as Merge Labs' non-invasive brain-computer interface, it is generally interpreted that OpenAI is exploring multiple paths to "screenless interaction".
Altmann’s interest in so-called “Merge” (human-machine integration) dates back to at least 2017. In a personal blog that year, he predicted that the "merger" of humans and machines would roughly occur between 2025 and 2075, and suggested that this process could take many forms, from directly inputting electronic signals into the human brain to becoming "extremely close friends" with chatbots. In his view, this merger is the "best survival plan" for humans in the face of potential "super-intelligent AI", otherwise humans may just be a biological guidance layer "bootstrapping" for digital intelligence, and end up being left on a certain branch of the evolutionary tree.
In the old article, Altmann wrote that "the merger has begun, but it's going to get weirder" and argued that humans will be the first species to design their own offspring. Now, with Merge Labs officially surfacing and gaining support from OpenAI, a key shareholder, Altman’s vision many years ago is being transformed from abstract ideas to concrete products and capital layout. As for whether this kind of "circular transaction" intertwined by capital, technology and personal vision can truly promote the safe implementation of brain-computer interfaces and help humans maintain the initiative in the era of super intelligence, it remains to be tested by time.