With Neuralink, Merge Labs, Precision Neuroscience and Synchron, the United States is leading the race for “Merge”

In the field of computer brain interfaces, the United States today concentrates the most ambitious projects and the most massive funding. But the competition is no longer only played between companies, it opposes strategic visions, and adoption models that are specific to each actor.

Neuralink, founded in 2016 by Elon Musk, imposed its name as a reference in the field. The company opted for a radical approach by developing an invasive brain implant with high density electrodes, capable of reading and stimulating neural activity with unequaled precision. The first essays on humans, authorized by the FDA, mainly aim to restore lost motor and sensory functions. But the stated objective goes far beyond the medical field, Elon Musk talks about a universal interface, capable ultimately to directly connect the brain to artificial intelligence systems. With a lifting of $ 650 million at the start of the year for a valuation of 9 billion, Neuralink consolidated its leading position but remains very challenged.

Faced with this advance, Sam Altman, co -founder of Openai, prepares his response, with Labs MANGEcompany he co-found alongside Alex Blania (Worldcoin), and which aims to take advantage of the OPENAI IA models to create a high-speed neural interface thought from the outset for interactions with artificial intelligence. If Sam Altman does not intend to ensure the operational direction, its involvement in the lifting of $ 250 million and its ability to structure an ecosystem around GPT give Merge Labs a strategic advantage by integrating the BCI directly into a software platform already adopted by hundreds of millions of users (currently more than 700 million)

Behind these two media giants, Precision Neuroscience adopts a more pragmatic strategy. Founded by Benjamin Rapoport, former Neurralink, the company is betting on a less invasive implant, placed on the surface of the brain rather than in depth, in order to reduce surgical risks. This approach could accelerate clinical adoption and facilitate regulatory authorizations, initially targeting medical applications.

Finally, Synchron embodies the path of the minimalist implant with its device, which inserted by endovascular route via the blood vessels of the brain, bypasses invasive surgery while offering functional neural communication. Synchron has already obtained authorizations for human tests in the United States and Australia, and positions itself as the first BCI actor to have taken this stage on two continents.

These four companies embody the different possible ways towards “Merge”. Neuralink and Merge Labs aim for technological rupture, with the objective of creating a symbiotic interface between man and AI. Precision Neuroscience and Synchron favor medical iteration and risk reduction, focusing on progressive adoption before opening the door to more ambitious uses.

The battle is also played economically. Neuralink already has considerable capital and an advance in terms of technical demonstration. Merge Labs, thanks to the support of Openai, could capitalize on a unique platform effect, integrating the BCI into an existing software ecosystem. Precision and synchron, on the other hand, can attract investors with a roadmap more compatible with regulators and a shorter time-to-market.

In this competition, the issue is not limited to who will build the most efficient interface, but it is a question of defining the technical and cognitive standard that will structure the world market. Whoever imposes his neuronal protocol and his adoption model will set the rules of the game for the decades to come. The United States is today the only ones to have several actors capable of reaching this threshold. But China is of course there, go tomorrow to find out what’s going on behind the Great Wall.