World's First 'Synthetic Biological Intelligence' Runs On Living Human Cells

Australian company Cortical Labs has launched the CL1, the world's first commercial 'biological computer' that merges human brain cells with silicon hardware to form adaptable, energy-efficient neural networks. New Atlas reports: Known as a Synthetic Biological Intelligence (SBI), Cortical's CL1 system was officially launched in Barcelona on March 2, 2025, and is expected to be a game-changer for science and medical research. The human-cell neural networks that form on the silicon 'chip' are essentially an ever-evolving organic computer, and the engineers behind it say it learns so quickly and flexibly that it completely outpaces the silicon-based AI chips used to train existing large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT.

'Today is the culmination of a vision that has powered Cortical Labs for almost six years,' said Cortical founder and CEO Dr Hon Weng Chong. 'We've enjoyed a series of critical breakthroughs in recent years, most notably our research in the journal Neuron, through which cultures were embedded in a simulated game-world, and were provided with electrophysiological stimulation and recording to mimic the arcade game Pong. However, 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.' He added that while this is a groundbreaking step forward, the full extent of the SBI system won't be seen until it's in users' hands.

'We're offering 'Wetware-as-a-Service' (WaaS),' he added -- customers will be able to buy the CL-1 biocomputer outright, or simply buy time on the chips, accessing them remotely to work with the cultured cell technology via the cloud. 'This platform will enable the millions of researchers, innovators and big-thinkers around the world to turn the CL1's potential into tangible, real-word impact. We'll provide the platform and support for them to invest in R&D and drive new breakthroughs and research.' 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.

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