Sam Altman’s Merge Labs Taps Caltech Scientist for Non-Invasive Brain Tech
Sam Altman is building a brain-computer interface startup called Merge Labs that will take a dramatically different approach from Neuralink. The OpenAI CEO has recruited Caltech biomolecular engineer Mikhail Shapiro, whose work focuses on using ultrasound and gene therapy to read brain activity without surgery. The hiring signals Altman’s preference for non-invasive neural interfaces over approaches that require implanting electrodes in the brain.
A Different Path to Brain-Computer Interfaces
Sam Altman is quietly assembling the pieces for his next major venture, and it’s shaping up to be a direct challenge to Neuralink’s vision of how humans should interface with machines. According to sources familiar with the matter, Altman has recruited Caltech professor Mikhail Shapiro—an award-winning biomolecular engineer—to join Merge Labs, a brain-computer interface startup expected to launch publicly in the coming weeks.