Sam Altman is building an $850 million brain-computer startup Merge Labs to rival Elon Musk's Neuralink
Altman has shown interest in this idea for years. In a 2017 blog post, he wrote: 'Although the merge has already begun, it's going to get a lot weirder. We will be the first species ever to design our own descendants.' At the time, he was still working with Musk at OpenAI. Musk left the organisation in 2018 and relations between the two have since broken down.Their rivalry has been especially public this week. It began when Musk accused Apple of favouring OpenAI in its App Store rankings and threatened legal action. Altman responded by suggesting Musk manipulates his social media platform, X, to benefit himself and harm rivals. The exchange quickly escalated into personal insults, with both using their own AI chatbots to mock each other.This isn't the first time the two have clashed. Musk is currently suing Altman, OpenAI president Greg Brockman, and Microsoft, claiming they abandoned OpenAI's original non-profit mission in favour of commercial gain. The case is set for trial in March 2026.Despite the heated words, both are pushing forward with ambitious AI-linked ventures. Musk continues to promote Neuralink and his AI company xAI, while Altman appears determined to challenge him in the brain-computer space. - EndsMust Watch
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