- Cortical Labs offering Sky Access to Neurondrated Computing for only $ 300 a week
- CL1 merges with human brain cells and silicon and can run real code
- System enables neural treatment in real time for research in AI and Neuroscience
Cortical Labs, an Australian startup that we have previously covered, has launched what it describes as the world’s first commercially available biological computer capable of running code.
The CL1 device combines lab-cultivated human neurons with silicon hardware and is designed for neuroscience, biotech and artificial intelligence research.
Customers can buy a CL1 device directly for $ 35,000 or access it externally through a weekly rent price for $ 300, with the platform already available via Cortical Labs’ Wetware-as-A-Service.
A new way of studying brain function
Each CL1 contains approx. 800,000 neurons grown from reprogrammed adult cells. These neurons are kept alive by an integrated life support system that supplies nutrients and controls the environment.
The neurons communicate and adapt using electrical signals under the millisecond, as the company says, allows CL1 to treat input and generate output almost immediately, which offers a new way of studying brain function.
“CL1 does this in real time using simple code abstracted through multiple interacting layers of firmware and hardware,” said Brett Kagan, Chief Scientific Officer at Cortical Labs, told IEEE SPECTRUM. “Sub-Millisecond loops are reading information, is about it and write new information in the cell culture.”
CL1 is based on washing up, a proof-of-concept where neurons learned to play pong in a simulated environment.
The new model increases input channels, improves signal delay and includes hardware improvements that make it more suitable for research and potential commercial applications. It has already been used to restore learning function in neural cultures modeling epilepsy.
The device consumes less power than conventional AI hardware and supports use cases, including drug development, AI testing and disease modeling. It requires buyers to receive ethical approval of new cell lines and to operate within a laboratory environment.
Karl Friston, a theoretical neuroscientist, called CL1 a “remarkable achievement” and noted that it gives researchers a practical platform to test theories of learning, behavior and brain function using real neurons.
