Overview
- Merge Labs announced its public launch and said it completed a seed round, with the $250 million size and $850 million valuation reported by people familiar with the deal.
- Sources cited by TechCrunch say OpenAI supplied the largest single investment in the round.
- The research lab positions its mission as connecting biological intelligence with artificial intelligence to restore lost abilities and expand human imagination.
- Co-founders include Sam Altman, Alex Blania and Sandro Herbig, alongside researchers drawn from Forest Neurotech and Caltech.
- Merge Labs emphasizes a non‑invasive path using “molecular rather than electrodes” methods with ultrasound and deep modalities, distinguishing it from Neuralink’s implant-based approach.