OpenAI boss Sam Altman is preparing to back a new company called Merge Labs that will compete with Elon Musk’s Neuralink in connecting human brains with computers.
The Financial Times reports that in a move that is set to heighten the intense rivalry between billionaire entrepreneurs Sam Altman and Elon Musk, Altman’s OpenAI is preparing to invest in a new brain-computer interface company called Merge Labs. The startup, which aims to raise $250 million at an $850 million valuation, is expected to receive a significant portion of its funding from OpenAI’s ventures team.
Altman, who co-founded OpenAI with Musk before the latter left the board in 2018, will help launch Merge Labs alongside Alex Blania, the founder of World, an eyeball-scanning digital ID project also backed by Altman. Although Altman will be a co-founder, he is not expected to have a day-to-day role in the company.
Merge Labs is one of several young companies looking to capitalize on recent advancements in AI to develop more useful brain-computer interfaces. The company’s name is derived from the concept of “the merge,” a term used in Silicon Valley to describe the convergence of humans and machines. Altman has previously speculated that this convergence could occur as early as 2025.
The new venture will be in direct competition with Neuralink, the creepy brain-computer interface company founded by Musk in 2016. Neuralink, which is backed by investors such as Sequoia Capital, Thrive Capital, and Vy Capital, raised $650 million at a $9 billion valuation earlier this year. Musk and Altman, who were once close collaborators, have become fierce rivals in their pursuit of AI, with Musk launching his own AI startup, xAI, in 2023 and attempting to block OpenAI’s conversion from a non-profit in the courts.
Breitbart News has reported extensively on the legal war between Musk and OpenAI, including the curious argument by Musk’s lawyers that he doesn’t use a computer:
Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur known for his ventures in electric vehicles, space exploration, and AI, is engaged in a protracted legal battle with OpenAI, the AI research company he co-founded in 2015. As part of the ongoing lawsuit, Musk’s lawyers made a curious assertion in a court filing this week, stating that the tech mogul “does not use a computer.”
This claim, however, seems to be at odds with Musk’s own social media presence. The billionaire has shared several posts on X that directly reference his laptop usage. In December 2024, Musk shared a picture of his laptop, writing, “This is a pic of my laptop. A guy in Germany gave me this cool sticker, so I don’t want to upgrade it and lose the sticker.” Just a month ago, Musk posted what appeared to be the same laptop in response to a question about his gaming setup, stating, “still using my ancient PC laptop with the @DOGE sticker made long ago by a fan.”
Read more at the Financial Times here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
