OpenAI has joined Merge Labs, a brain-computer interface firm, in its seed round

OpenAI Joins Seed Funding Round of Brain–Computer Interface Startup Merge Labs

Artificial intelligence company OpenAI will participate in the seed funding round of Merge Labs, a brain–computer interface (BCI) startup backed by OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, according to a post shared by the company on X late on Thursday. The financial terms of the investment were not disclosed.

The move signals OpenAI’s growing interest in technologies beyond software, highlighting a longer-term focus on hardware and human-augmentation research alongside its core AI business.

The investment follows a report by the Financial Times last August that Merge Labs was seeking to raise about $250 million at a valuation of roughly $850 million. Founded in 2024, Merge Labs is a research-driven startup developing high-bandwidth brain–computer interfaces that combine neuroscience, bioengineering, hardware design and artificial intelligence to enable more direct interaction between humans and machines.

Merge Labs’ cofounders include researchers Mikhail Shapiro, Tyson Aflalo and Sumner Norman, along with technology entrepreneurs Alex Blania, Sandro Herbig and Sam Altman. Despite being a cofounder, Altman has not made a personal investment in the company.

In a blog post, OpenAI said it plans to collaborate with Merge Labs on scientific foundation models and advanced AI tools to accelerate BCI research and development. The funding will support Merge Labs’ broader ambition of allowing humans to interact with artificial intelligence directly through neural signals.

Merge Labs positions itself as a competitor to Neuralink, the neurotechnology company founded by Elon Musk, but with a different technical approach. According to reports, Merge Labs has explored the use of gene therapy to modify brain cells, paired with an ultrasound-based device implanted in the head to detect and modulate neural activity. The company has not publicly detailed this work.

Neuralink, by contrast, focuses on implanting chips directly into the brain using a surgical robot. The company has already implanted its devices in humans, primarily targeting patients with severe paralysis. Neuralink has said that 12 people are currently using its implants to control digital and physical tools through thought.

Earlier this year, Neuralink announced plans to move toward high-volume production of its brain–computer interface devices and to adopt a fully automated surgical procedure by 2026. The company raised $650 million in a funding round in June last year and achieved its first successful human implantation in 2024.