OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman isn’t just thinking about better chatbots anymore. He’s now reportedly setting his sights on the human brain. Altman is backing a new secretive startup called Merge Labs, which is said to be developing a brain–computer interface that can interpret human thoughts, all without having to open up the skull. The plan is to use sound waves and magnetic fields to “listen” to what the brain is saying, potentially letting AI models like GPT learn directly from human thinking itself.
While Elon Musk’s Neuralink has already implanted chips in people’s heads, Merge Labs is taking a softer approach. Instead of surgery, it’s said to rely on ultrasound and genetic engineering to build a non-invasive bridge between brains and machines. According to reports, Altman has pulled together a powerhouse founding team. Leading the charge is Mikhail Shapiro, a Caltech bioengineer whose work with ultrasound-based neural imaging has opened up new ways to map and influence brain activity. Also joining him is Alex Blania, CEO of Tools for Humanity, the company behind Worldcoin and that bizarre looking, eye-scanning AI-powered orb
Shapiro’s research is central to Merge Labs’ vision. At Caltech, he explored how ultrasound can communicate with neurons and how gene-editing can make brain cells sensitive to sound waves. Instead of hard-wired electrodes, this could make the body’s own biology a wireless interface, effectively allowing thoughts to be read, or at least interpreted, from outside.
Altman has never been a fan of Musk’s brain implants. Earlier this year, he joked that he’d never “plant anything” in his skull because it would “kill his neurons.” But he’s long talked about wanting to think something and have ChatGPT respond instantly. That’s the idea behind Merge Labs’ “read-only” interface, a system that can decode brain signals without modifying them. It’s not about AI controlling people; it’s about AI understanding how people think.
Reports suggest Merge Labs is preparing a $250 million (about ₹2,200 crore) funding round through OpenAI’s venture arm, with Altman listed as a co-founder. Though he won’t handle daily operations, his involvement shows how far Altman’s willing to go to fuse human cognition with AI.
If successful, this could mark the next big leap in human-AI connection, without any no chips, or surgery, just sound waves and science fiction slowly turning real.
