Wednesday, 13 August, 2025
Sam Altman & OpenAI Back Merge Labs, an $850M Neuralink Rival

Sam Altman and OpenAI are reportedly backing a new brain-computer interface startup called Merge Labs, aiming to rival Elon Musk’s Neuralink. The venture, co-founded by Altman and Alex Blania, is valued at $850 million and seeks to raise around $250 million, primarily from OpenAI’s ventures arm. Altman will not handle daily operations, but Merge Labs seeks to develop high-bandwidth neural interfaces, intensifying their competition in the BCI space.
Read full story at TechCrunch