🧠 The First Biocomputer with Human Neurons Has Been Unveiled
Australian company Cortical Labs has launched the first CL1 biocomputer with live human neurons.
The CL1 uses a literally "neural" chip. Brain neurons grown in the lab from stem cells are placed on a substrate with electrodes to form a "living" fluid neural network on the chip. The system is called "Synthetic Biological Intelligence (SBI)."
🧠 How does it work?
The entire "brain" operates in a rectangular life-support unit connected to a computer. Nerve cells can receive electrical signals from the computer, interpret them, and give feedback.
To train the SBI, the developers initially used reward/punishment tactics, giving the cells information about a video game—computer ping-pong. The biocomputer learned to play it in just five minutes.
Neural networks of human cells formed on a silicon chip make a constantly evolving "organic" computer. The developers claim that such a system learns so quickly and flexibly that it is superior to the silicon AI chips used to train large language models. Plus, it's way more energy efficient and doesn't require giant datasets.
🧠 Will the scientists be able to create a real brain?
Cortical Labs' technology could eventually lead to the growth of a "minimal viable brain," but so far, even within the team, there's no exact understanding of what that is, notes the company's chief scientist, Brett Kagan.
The smallest example of a brain in nature is the roundworm's nervous system with 302 neurons. "Is its brain minimally viable? Do you need all of those neurons or could you achieve it with, you know, 30 neurons that are all uniquely circuited up?" Kagan asks. The technologies at the heart of CL1 could help answer this and other questions in the future.
Biohybrid brain models of the brain could also bring breakthroughs in medical research and drug discovery and potentially help create more advanced robots and AI systems.
Commenting on the ethical side of the issue, Kagan notes that the team views the biocomputer as "a kind of different form of life to animal or human."
The biocomputer's price starts at $35,000. Cortical Labs intends to launch the first CL1-based servers in the coming months and open access to them via the cloud by the end of the year.
More on the topic:
🧠 OI—a New Era of Artificial Intelligence?
👩🎤 Cyberpunk is Now: How Are Living Neurons from Neuralink's Competitor Designed?
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