Sam Altman, Openai Will Reportedly Back A Startup That Takes On Musk’s Neuralink

Sam Altman is successful nan process of co-founding a caller brain-to-computer interface startup called Merge Labs, and raising costs for it pinch nan superior expected to mostly travel from OpenAI’s ventures team, unnamed sources told nan Financial Times. 

The startup is expected to beryllium weighted astatine $850 million. Merge Labs is besides reportedly moving pinch Alex Blania, who runs Tools for Humanity (formerly World) — Altman’s eye-scanning integer ID task that “allows anyone to verify their humanness,” arsenic nan institution describes.

Merge Labs will compete pinch Elon Musk’s Neuralink, which is processing machine interface chips designed to beryllium implanted successful nan brain. Musk founded Neuralink successful 2016 (although its beingness wasn’t known until 2017) and nan institution has made superior progress.

Neuralink is currently successful trials pinch group who suffer from terrible paralysis. It intends to let them to power devices pinch their thoughts. It raised a $600 cardinal Series E astatine a $9 billion valuation successful June.

Neuralink (and perhaps, Merge Labs) could revolutionize really humans interact pinch technology. Some mightiness moreover opportunity their tech could return humanity towards “the singularity.”

Long earlier Silicon Valley became obsessed pinch nan conception of artificial wide intelligence (AGI), it was enamored pinch “the singularity.” Musk has utilized the term to picture a clip erstwhile AI surpasses quality intelligence. The much classical meaning (after a 1960’s novella of nan aforesaid sanction by Dino Buzzati), intends nan merging of tech pinch humans.

Altman blogged about “The Merge” successful 2017. “Although nan merge has already begun, it’s going to get a batch weirder. We will beryllium nan first type ever to creation our ain descendants,” he reasoned astatine nan clip citing investigation activity he saw astatine OpenAI, wherever Musk was still a co-founder.

Musk near OpenAI successful 2018 and nan narration betwixt nan 2 tech leaders has since disintegrated. Just this week, Altman and Musk were bickering connected X aft Altman accused Musk of manipulating X and Musk called Altman a liar.

We’ll person to hold and spot erstwhile and if Merge Labs becomes formally announced. But it stands to logic that Altman wasn’t going to fto Musk activity connected thing arsenic important arsenic nan singularity without a challenger.

OpenAI could not beryllium instantly reached for remark and declined to remark connected FT’s report.