An Australian startup, Cortical Labs, has unveiled CL1, the first hybrid computer powered by living human neurons cultivated in a lab and integrated with silicon hardware. Revealed at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, this groundbreaking system combines a network of biological brain cells with a traditional chip to create a new kind of intelligence (it.wikipedia.org).
What Is CL1?
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Neuronal hybrid: CL1 is built from human neurons derived from stem cells, grown in vitro and then embedded onto a silicon chip. This chip features a planar array of 59 electrodes, effectively forming a biologically‑powered neural‑network server (it.wikipedia.org).
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Modular server stacks: Each CL1 stack—comprised of 30 individual units—consumes between 850 and 1,000 W and operates completely independently, without needing an external traditional computer (it.wikipedia.org).
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Commercial ambition: One unit is priced at €32,000 (compared to €85,000 for comparable analog systems). Cortical Labs plans to launch a commercial cloud service by end of 2025 (it.wikipedia.org).
Why It Matters
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Superior intelligence: According to the developers, CL1 learns more quickly and flexibly than state‑of‑the‑art silicon AI chips used for training large language models (like ChatGPT) (it.wikipedia.org).
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Medical breakthroughs: Interfacing these neurons electrically could reveal valuable insights for treating neurological disorders such as epilepsy or Alzheimer’s disease (it.wikipedia.org).
Key Challenges & Opportunities
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Sustaining living cells: Keeping biological neurons alive requires more than electrical current—they need nutrient-rich fluids and are subject to decay and natural limits on longevity .
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Future vision: One proposed strategy is to genetically engineer or synthetically construct regenerative bio‑tissue that can endlessly repair itself. Such networks could one day potentially surpass today’s machines in connectivity and problem‑solving ability .