Australian startup Cortical Labs has been gaining attention recently after Amazon CTO Werner Vogels visited the lab and wrote about his experience with this “intriguing” technology. Cortical Labs creates a hybrid AI system using synthetic biology and human neurons, claiming to be a class of AI known as ‘Organoid Intelligence (OI)’. The company has now raised a $10 million funding round to help further its development.
Its technology uses clusters of lab-cultivated neurons from human stem cells to form a ‘DishBrain’ that is then connected to hard silicon to create a Biological Intelligence Operating System (biOS). Cortical Labs claims this class of AI can be more powerful and energy efficient than traditional AI models. It demonstrated this claim in an article published in the scientific journal Neuron, showing that human neurons could play the classic computer game Pong.
The technology also has many practical applications. For example, this system could be used to better understand and eventually harness how neurons display intelligence, potentially revolutionizing personalized medicine and disease detection. It could also be used for drug discovery because its results are tailored specifically for the individual. Additionally, its usage requires far less energy consumption than other digital AI models.
Hon Weng Chong is the CEO and founder of Cortical Labs. On the technology, Chong said: “The possibilities that a hybridised AI meets synthetic biology model can unlock are limitless, accelerating the possibilities of digital AI in a more powerful and more sustainable way.” Jonathan Tam of Horizons Ventures — a lead investor in the $10 million funding round Caldical Labs just raised — sees some potential for the technology in quantum computing and generative AI.
The competition in this sector is low, with Cortical Labs being the first of its kind. In the future, the company hopes to scale up their processes to create computer simulations which could be even more accurate and energy efficient than current AI models.
Overall, Cortical Labs is introducing a new way to approach AI which will inevitably shake up the industry and revolutionize the way we look at digital intelligence.
