OpenAI has announced its participation in the seed round of Merge Labs, a new research-focused startup working on brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) designed to connect human cognition more directly with artificial intelligence.

In a blog post, OpenAI described BCIs as “an important new frontier,” noting that more direct ways for people to express intent have historically driven major advances in computing. According to OpenAI, BCIs could open new ways to communicate, learn, and interact with technology—ultimately enabling a more natural, human-centered interface with AI.

Merge Labs describes itself as a research lab with a long-term mission of bridging biological and artificial intelligence to expand human ability, agency, and experience. The company says it is developing fundamentally new approaches to BCIs that aim to be safe, noninvasive, and capable of interfacing with the brain at much higher bandwidth than existing systems.

According to OpenAI, Merge Labs’ approach combines biology, device engineering, neuroscience, and AI to move beyond traditional electrode-based interfaces. In public statements cited by TechCrunch, Merge Labs says it intends to connect with neurons using molecules instead of electrodes, transmitting and receiving information through modalities such as ultrasound rather than implanted hardware.

OpenAI emphasized that AI will play a central role in Merge Labs’ research and development efforts. The company said AI systems can accelerate progress in bioengineering, neuroscience, and device engineering, while also enabling the interfaces themselves to function more effectively.

According to OpenAI, future BCI systems will benefit from AI operating systems that can interpret human intent, adapt to individual users, and operate reliably despite limited and noisy neural signals—a long-standing challenge in brain–computer interface research.

As part of the investment, OpenAI says it will collaborate with Merge Labs on scientific foundation models and other frontier tools to help accelerate progress.

Merge Labs’ co-founders include Mikhail Shapiro, a researcher at Caltech, and Tyson Aflalo and Sumner Norman, co-founders of implantable neural technology company Forest Neurotech, whom OpenAI says have pioneered new approaches to BCI research. They are joined by technology entrepreneurs Alex Blania, CEO, and Sandro Herbig, product and engineering lead at Tools for Humanity, and Sam Altman, who is participating in a personal capacity.

Blania and Herbig are also executives at Tools for Humanity, an Altman-backed company known for developing the eye-scanning World orbs. Both have said publicly that they will continue in their roles at Tools for Humanity. Merge Labs has said that Forest Neurotech, the company co-founded by Aflalo and Norman, will continue operating and maintain a “wonderful working relationship” with Merge. Shapiro plans to continue teaching at Caltech.

A spokesperson told TechCrunch that the co-founders also serve as board members of Merge Labs.

According to TechCrunch, Merge Labs emerged from stealth on January 15, 2026 with an undisclosed seed round. A source familiar with the matter told TechCrunch that OpenAI wrote the largest single check in what TechCrunch described as a roughly $250 million seed round at an $850 million valuation.

Other investors reportedly include Bain Capital, Interface Fund, Fifty Years, and video game developer Gabe Newell. Seth Bannon, a founding partner at Fifty Years, wrote on X that he views Merge Labs as part of a long-running human effort to build tools that expand human capabilities and extend what people can do alongside technology.

While OpenAI did not disclose financial terms in its blog post, TechCrunch framed the investment as another example of overlapping relationships between OpenAI, Sam Altman, and startups he has founded, backed, or helped shape. According to TechCrunch, these overlaps raise questions about how value and influence circulate when the same individuals and organizations appear on both sides of investment, governance, and product development.

In practical terms, TechCrunch suggested that Merge Labs could function as a kind of interface layer—or “remote control”—for OpenAI’s software. If Merge Labs succeeds in creating new ways for humans to interact directly with AI, that success could drive greater use of OpenAI’s systems, reinforcing the strategic rationale for OpenAI’s investment. At the same time, it could increase the value of a startup Altman co-founded, using tools and resources from a company he leads.

TechCrunch also noted that OpenAI frequently invests through the OpenAI Startup Fund, which has backed other Altman-connected startups including Red Queen Bio, Rain AI, and Harvey, and has entered into commercial agreements with companies Altman personally owns or chairs, such as Helion Energy and Oklo.

Separately, OpenAI is also working with Jony Ive’s startup io, which it acquired last year, to develop a new piece of AI hardware that does not rely on a screen. While details have not been confirmed, recent reports suggest the device could take the form of an earbud, underscoring OpenAI’s broader interest in moving AI beyond traditional screens and interfaces.

Merge Labs enters a competitive and closely watched field. Neuralink, the brain–computer interface company founded by Elon Musk, is also developing neural interface technology that allows people with severe paralysis to control devices using their thoughts. Neuralink’s current approach relies on invasive surgical implantation, in which a robotic system removes a small portion of the skull and inserts ultra-fine electrode threads into the brain to read neural signals. According to TechCrunch, Neuralink last raised a $650 million Series E at a $9 billion valuation in June 2025.

While brain–computer interfaces have clear and widely discussed medical applications—including restoring communication or mobility for people with neurological conditions—TechCrunch suggested that Merge Labs appears more focused on longer-term visions of human–AI integration rather than near-term clinical deployment use. That distinction places Merge Labs closer to a philosophical and technological vision that Sam Altman has publicly articulated for years.

Altman has written since at least 2017 about the concept of a future “merge” between humans and machines, speculating that it could take many forms over time and unfold on a long timeline. In that writing, he suggested the merge could occur sometime between 2025 and 2075, depending on how artificial intelligence and human–machine interfaces evolve.

In the blog post, he described possibilities ranging from plugging electrons directly into human brains to humans becoming “really close friends with a chatbot.”

Altman has also characterized such a merge as a “best-case scenario” for humanity’s survival in the face of superintelligence AI, which he has described as a separate species that could eventually come into conflict with humans. In one post, he wrote that while the merge may already be underway, its implications are likely to become far stranger over time.

“Although the merge has already begun, it’s going to get a lot weirder,” Altman wrote. “We will be the first species ever to design our own descendants. My guess is that we can either be the biological bootloader for digital intelligence and then fade into an evolutionary tree branch, or we can figure out what a successful merge looks like.”

Together, those statements help explain why Merge Labs’ focus on high-bandwidth brain–computer interfaces sits at the intersection of technical research, long-term AI strategy, and broader questions about human agency in an AI-driven future.

More broadly, the overlap between Sam Altman, OpenAI, and Merge Labs reflects a pattern that is not unique to Altman. Elon Musk has similarly built a network of closely connected companies—spanning Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, xAI, and others—where capital, talent, long-term vision, and strategic priorities often reinforce one another.

In both cases, the model centers on founder-led ecosystems in which multiple companies pursue interconnected goals across AI, hardware, energy, and human–machine interfaces. Supporters argue that this structure enables faster innovation and long-term coordination across disciplines. Critics, including those cited by TechCrunch, note that it can also concentrate influence and blur the boundaries between independent governance, investment, and product development.

Seen through that lens, OpenAI’s investment in Merge Labs—and Altman’s personal involvement—fits into a broader Silicon Valley pattern rather than standing as an isolated case. The significance lies less in any single transaction and more in how a small number of influential figures are shaping the future of AI, hardware, and human–machine interaction through tightly linked organizations.

Q: What is Merge Labs building?
A: Merge Labs is a research lab focused on developing new types of brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) designed to safely connect human neural activity with artificial intelligence at higher bandwidth than current approaches.

Q: Why is OpenAI investing in BCIs?
A: OpenAI says more direct ways for humans to express intent have historically driven major advances in computing. The company believes BCIs could eventually enable more natural, human-centered interaction with AI systems.

Q: How does AI fit into Merge Labs’ approach?
A: According to OpenAI, AI systems can accelerate research across bioengineering and neuroscience while also serving as adaptive operating systems that interpret intent and operate reliably despite noisy neural signals.

Q: Is this focused on medical use cases or broader applications?
A: While BCIs have clear medical potential, Merge Labs’ stated mission extends beyond clinical uses toward long-term human–AI interaction, including expanding human agency and experience.

Q: Why has this investment raised governance questions?
A: Several Merge Labs co-founders, including Sam Altman, are connected to other OpenAI-backed companies. TechCrunch notes that these overlapping roles highlight the need for transparency as AI, hardware, and biological interfaces increasingly intersect.

OpenAI’s investment in Merge Labs is less about a single startup and more about a broader rethinking of how humans communicate with machines. As AI systems become more capable, the interface—how people give input, receive responses, and guide outcomes—becomes just as important as the intelligence behind the system.

If successful, brain–computer interfaces could change how people interact with technology by reducing the distance between thought, action, and response. Tasks that currently require screens, prompts, and manual input could instead happen through systems that respond more directly to people’s thoughts and actions. That shift would not simply make technology faster or more convenient; it would change who can realistically use advanced AI and how much effort participation requires.

At the same time, these interfaces raise stakes well beyond usability. When AI platforms, hardware systems, and biological signals become tightly linked, questions of governance, accountability, and power concentration move from abstract policy debates into everyday experience. Who controls the interface influences how systems behave, what options are surfaced, and how responsibility is assigned when things go wrong.

The investment also highlights a structural tension in the AI industry. As influential figures build interconnected ecosystems spanning software, hardware, and human interfaces, innovation may accelerate—but so does the need for transparency, clear boundaries, and public trust. These systems do more than assist users; they shape how people interact with technology itself.

OpenAI says its goal is to support research that expands human agency. What ultimately matters is whether emerging interfaces strengthen that agency as they scale—ensuring that closer integration with AI gives people more control, not less.

Editor’s Note: This article was created by Alicia Shapiro, CMO of AiNews.com, with writing, image, and idea-generation support from ChatGPT, an AI assistant. However, the final perspective and editorial choices are solely Alicia Shapiro’s. Special thanks to ChatGPT for assistance with research and editorial support in crafting this article.