Overview

• Unnamed sources tell the Financial Times that Altman and Alex Blania are cofounding Merge Labs to develop implantable brain-computer interfaces
• Early-stage negotiations position OpenAI Ventures as a likely major backer, though no investment commitments have been formalized
• Altman will not personally invest in the startup and OpenAI has declined to comment on the reported deal
• Merge Labs aims to advance AI-driven implants that link human cognition with machines for medical and cognitive applications
• The new venture intensifies competition with Elon Musk’s Neuralink, which is already testing implants in paralysis patients and targets 20,000 procedures per year by 2031