OpenAI’s venture arm and Founders Fund are investing in Coherence Neuro’s $45 million seed round, Wired reported on 21 October. The San Francisco startup is developing an implant intended to detect and treat brain tumours. OpenAI also invested in Merge Labs, a brain-computer interface company that emerged in January with $252 million in initial funding.
Coherence is developing AI models to decode electrical signals associated with tumours. The company says it can use those signals to track changes in cancer in animals and is working towards human research. At Royal Melbourne Hospital, its implant recorded signals for roughly 30 minutes in three patients already undergoing surgery to remove brain tumours. Coherence is testing recording and electrical stimulation in seven more patients.
Coherence plans to use the funding to start a trial in which patients with glioblastoma would receive the implant long-term. Ben Woodington, its chief executive and cofounder, said OpenAI would not have access to the brain or health data Coherence generates. OpenAI said in January that it would work with Merge Labs on scientific foundation models and other tools.
