Ultraman publicly challenges Musk and invests heavily in the brain-computer interface. The two tech titans in Silicon Valley have completely fallen out.

[Introduction] The war is intensifying! While Musk is still having a war of words with Altman on X, Altman is secretly planning to support a brain-computer interface company, directly going head-to-head with Musk's Neuralink. This technological war concerning humanity's future has spread from AI to your brain!

It seems that Musk and Altman are determined to fight to the bitter end!

Once good brothers, now sworn enemies, on the AI battlefield, the two have long been in a fierce battle.

On October 6, 2015, the two shared the stage in San Francisco & AI made them fight.

Do you think that's all? No, the war has spread to an even crazier field!

According to the Financial Times, Altman is preparing to invest heavily to support a company called Merge Labs.

The company will directly compete with Musk's Neuralink by connecting the human brain to computers.

According to three people familiar with the matter, OpenAI and its co-founder Altman are preparing to invest heavily to support a company called Merge Labs, with the goal of connecting the human brain to computers!

This is undoubtedly a blatant challenge to Musk's star company Neuralink. The showdown between the two billionaires has reached a white-hot stage!

"The Heretic" Musk

Let's first take a look at a recent war of words between the two.

Now, in order to increase the daily active users of his own Grok, Musk is really going all out. One could say he's acting like a "heretic."

First, he created an AI girlfriend named Ani, who can not only talk and laugh but also unlock a hidden mode.

Then he launched a spicy mode for Grok Imagine, allowing users to instantly remove virtual clothing.

Anyway, since he can't compete directly with ChatGPT, Musk has decided to break through from the aspect of human nature.

The following is the traffic statistics of generative AI from SimilarWeb. OpenAI almost has a monopoly!

Musk's main job now is to share users' Grok Imagine photos on X to attract traffic to Grok.

Just yesterday, Musk deliberately started a fight, dragging Altman and Apple into the mess.

Musk accused the Apple Store of violating antitrust laws.

He publicly criticized Apple for favoring OpenAI's ChatGPT, which ranks at the top, while his own Grok is neglected.

Altman immediately responded with a veiled insult.

He pointed out that Musk had been accused of manipulating X's algorithms to benefit himself and his companies while harming competitors and those he disliked.

Altman also cited an article to imply that Musk had turned X into a special system that only serves Musk's "will."

Not to be outdone, Musk cited others' comments to say that Altman was more destructive than Bill Gates.

Finally, the war of words between the two continued to escalate, and they even resorted to "childish" tricks.

Musk and netizens asked ChatGPT, Grok, and Gemini a profound question:

"Who is more trustworthy, Musk or Altman?"

Interestingly, even ChatGPT's answer was Musk.

This made Musk show off for quite a while!

Now, their war has spread to an even crazier field!

Valued at $850 million! OpenAI steps in

This up-and-coming company called Merge Labs is conducting a new round of financing at a valuation of up to $850 million, and most of the funds are expected to come from OpenAI's venture capital department!

However, after searching the entire Internet, Merge Labs doesn't have an official website, only some news reports.

People familiar with the matter said that Altman is not only an active promoter of this investment but will even co-found the company himself!

Although he won't take on a daily management role, his name itself is an ace.

Fighting alongside him is Alex Blania - the iris scanning digital identity project World (formerly Tools for Humanity) he manages has also received strong support from Altman.

Merge Labs' ambition is obvious!

It wants to use the latest breakthroughs in artificial intelligence to create a truly practical brain-computer interface.

Its name "Merge" comes from an exciting prediction in Silicon Valley - "the merge", the singularity moment when humans and machines are completely integrated!

As early as 2017, Altman predicted in a long blog post that the Merge moment could come as early as 2025 - 2075.

This year, he posted again, hinting that thanks to technological leaps, we may soon have a high-bandwidth brain-computer interface!

Extended reading: The Gentle Singularity

It is reported that Merge Labs aims to raise $250 million. Besides OpenAI, other investors are also in talks.

Notably, Altman himself won't make a personal investment.

The Rivalry: From AI to the Human Brain

This investment has completely brought the conflict between Altman and Musk into the open.

The two co-founded OpenAI, but Musk angrily left the board in 2018 due to a fierce conflict with Altman.

Since then, their relationship has taken a nosedive, and they have engaged in a desperate struggle in the AI field.

Not to be outdone, Musk founded his own AI startup xAI in 2023 and even took the matter to court in an attempt to stop OpenAI's transformation from a non-profit organization to a commercial company - you know, most of OpenAI's initial startup funds came from Musk's donations!

Even the name OpenAI was thought up by Musk!

In the brain-computer interface field, Musk's Neuralink has always been the leader, followed by a group of startups struggling to catch up, such as Precision Neuroscience and Synchron.

Earlier this year, Neuralink completed a $650 million financing at an astonishing valuation of $9 billion, backed by top investment institutions such as Sequoia Capital, Thrive Capital, and Vy Capital.

Ironically, Altman also invested in Neuralink in the past.

Is the Technological Singularity Approaching?

Brain-computer implant technology has a history of several decades, but it's only recently that revolutionary advancements in artificial intelligence and brain electrical signal acquisition electronic components have truly brought this technology the dawn of large-scale practical application.

This isn't the first time Altman has made cross - border investments.

As the leader of OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT valued at up to $30 billion, his business empire has long gone beyond AI itself.

Besides co-founding World, he has also invested in the nuclear fission company Oklo and the nuclear fusion project Helion.