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Cortical Labs out of Melbourne, Australia has created the CL1, the “world’s first code deployable biological computer” that runs on living, lab-grown human brain cells. Bonus: it is now available for purchase online.
“Real neurons are cultivated inside a nutrient rich solution, supplying them with everything they need to be healthy,” Cortical Labs writes on their website. “They grow across a silicon chip, which sends and receives electrical impulses into the neural structure.
“The world the neurons exist in is created by our Biological Intelligence Operating System (biOS). It runs a simulated world and sends information directly to the neurons about their environment. As the neurons react, their impulses affect their simulated world.
“We bring these neurons to life, and integrate them into the biOS with a mixture of hard silicon and soft tissue. You get to connect directly to these neurons. Deploy code directly to the real neurons, and solve today’s most difficult challenges.
“The neuron is self programming, infinitely flexible, and the result of four billion years of evolution. What digital AI models spend tremendous resources trying to emulate, we begin with.”
So what does that all mean? Cortical founder and CEO Dr. Hon Weng Chong told New Atlas, “Our long-term mission has been to democratize this technology, making it accessible to researchers without specialized hardware and software. The CL1 is the realization of that mission.”
Plus, this brain cell-powered computers can play Pong!
These remarkable brain-cell biocomputers could revolutionize everything from drug discovery and clinical testing to how robotic “intelligence” is built, allowing unlimited personalization depending on need. The CL1, which will be widely available in the second half of 2025, is an enormous achievement for Cortical – and as New Atlas saw recently with a visit to the company’s Melbourne headquarters – the potential here is much more far-reaching than Pong.
“We almost view it actually as a kind of different form of life to let’s say, animal or human,” Chief Scientific Officer Brett Kagan told New Atlas in 2023. “We think of it as a mechanical and engineering approach to intelligence. We’re using the substrate of intelligence, which is biological neurons, but we’re assembling them in a new way.”
While the cost of purchasing the CL1 might be a bit steep for more people, $35,000, Kagan did say they are “aiming to be significantly more affordable.” He also added, “In the meantime, we provide access to people from anywhere, anyone, any house, through the cloud-based system. So even if you don’t have one of these, you can access one of these from your home.”
Last year, researchers at FinalSpark in Switzerland were able to hook together 16 organoids or “mini brains” to create a small “biocomputer” that uses far less energy than traditional computers.
Content shared from brobible.com.