Elon Musk and Sam Altman rivalry extends to brain-tech arena

The rivalry between Tesla chief executive Elon Musk and OpenAI’s Sam Altman appears to be intensifying, moving beyond artificial intelligence into the realm of brain-computer interface (BCI) technology.

While their AI competition has played out publicly on X (formerly Twitter), Altman is reportedly preparing to take on Musk’s Neuralink through a new venture, Merge Labs — a brain-to-computer interface startup currently in its formative stages.

Neuralink, Musk’s BCI company, has already achieved milestones by implanting computer chips in human brains and progressing to clinical trials. These trials are aimed at enabling people with severe paralysis to control devices with their thoughts.

According to sources cited by TechCrunch, Altman is a co-founder of Merge Labs and is actively engaged in fundraising. The company’s primary backing is expected to come from OpenAI’s ventures division, although discussions remain in the early stages and no firm commitment has been made, making the initiative’s future uncertain.

Merge Labs is also believed to be working with Alex Blania, a key figure in Altman’s digital ID project, Tools for Humanity.

The BCI sector, largely dominated by Neuralink since its founding in 2016, has been a focal point for futurists and technologists exploring the so-called “singularity” — the merging of human consciousness with technology. Both Musk and Altman have expressed long-standing interest in this vision. In 2017, Altman authored a blog post titled “The Merge,” in which he suggested that humans might become “the first species ever to design our own descendants.”

If Merge Labs proceeds, it could set the stage for a fresh chapter in the high-stakes technology rivalry between two of Silicon Valley’s most prominent and competitive figures.