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   A breakthrough in computing: Cortical Labs' CL1 is the first living   
   biocomputer and costs almost the same as 'Apple's best failure'   
      
   Date:   
   Sun, 09 Mar 2025 10:26:00 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   Cortical Labs' CL1 is the worlds first commercialized biological computer    
   with real neurons on a silicon chip.   
      
   FULL STORY   
      
   Despite the unquestionably impressive advancements weve witnessed in recent   
   years, AI is still lagging far behind human intelligence. While it can    
   process vast amounts of data, recognize patterns, and generate responses at   
   speed, it lacks true understanding and reasoning, and although its getting   
   better, the issue of hallucinations - when the AI makes stuff up - remains a   
   problem.    
      
   Two years ago, researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Australia,   
   together with scientists at Cortical Labs in Melbourne, suggested that the   
   answer to real, less artificial AI was organoids - computers built with human   
   brain cells . Fast forward to today, and Cortical Labs has turned the theory   
   into reality with the production of the worlds first commercialized    
   biological computer.    
      
   The CL1, which will be manufactured to order but is available for purchase   
   online (the option to buy time on the chips will also be offered), is a   
   Synthetic Biological Intelligence (SBI).   
      
   Connecting directly to neurons    
      
   Real neurons are cultivated inside a nutrient-rich solution, supplying them   
   with everything they need to be healthy. They grow across a silicon chip,   
   which sends and receives electrical impulses into the neural structure," the   
   company says.    
      
   The world the neurons exist in is created by Cortical Labs Biological   
   Intelligence Operating System (biOS) and runs a simulated world and sends   
   information directly to the neurons about their environment. As the neurons   
   react, their impulses affect their simulated world. We bring these neurons to   
   life, and integrate them into the biOS with a mixture of hard silicon and    
   soft tissue. You get to connect directly to these neurons.    
      
   By deploying code directly to the real neurons, the company claims the CL1    
   can solve todays most difficult challenges, The neuron is self-programming,   
   infinitely flexible, and the result of four billion years of evolution. What   
   digital AI models spend tremendous resources trying to emulate, we begin    
   with.    
      
   "Today is the culmination of a vision that has powered Cortical Labs for   
   almost six years," noted Dr. Hon Weng Chong, Founder and CEO of Cortical    
   Labs. "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. While today's   
   announcement is incredibly exciting, it's the foundation for the next stage    
   of innovation. The real impact and the real implications will come from every   
   researcher, academic, or innovator that builds on top of it."    
      
   A report from New Atlas claims Cortical is constructing a first-of-its-kind   
   biological neural network server stack, housing 30 individual units that each   
   contain the cells on their electrode array, which is expected to go online in   
   the coming months. The site reports the company is aiming to have four stacks   
   available for commercial use via a cloud system by the end of 2025.    
      
   As for pricing, the CL1 will be surprisingly affordable. The units themselves   
   are expected to have a price tag of around US$35,000, to start with (anything   
   close to this kind of tech is currently priced at 80,000, or nearly   
   US$85,000), New Atlas adds.    
      
   For context, Apples best failure the Lisa, which paved the way for the   
   Macintosh and even Microsoft Windows, sold for $9,995.00 in January 1983   
   which, adjusting for inflation, works out to a comparable $32,500 today. Will   
   the CL1 prove be as important to computings future as the Lisa was? It's   
   impossible to say, but for now its impact will largely depend on scalability,   
   practical applications, and how well it integrates into existing AI and   
   computing systems.   
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/pro/a-breakthrough-in-computing-cortical-labs-cl1-is   
   -the-first-living-biocomputer-and-costs-almost-the-same-as-apples-best-failure   
      
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