Core Viewpoint - OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman is supporting a new company called Merge Labs, which aims to compete directly with Elon Musk's Neuralink in the brain-computer interface sector, indicating an intensifying rivalry between the two tech giants [2][3][4]. Group 1: Company Overview - Merge Labs is currently valued at $850 million and plans to raise $250 million, primarily from OpenAI's venture capital team [2][3]. - Altman will serve as a co-founder of Merge Labs but will not be involved in daily operations or provide personal funding [2][3][4]. - The company is part of a new wave of startups in Silicon Valley leveraging advancements in artificial intelligence to create more practical brain-computer interfaces [3][4]. Group 2: Competitive Landscape - Merge Labs will compete directly with Neuralink, which was founded by Musk in 2016 and is currently leading in the brain-computer interface field [4][5]. - Neuralink recently raised $650 million at a valuation of $9 billion, with investors including Sequoia Capital, Thrive Capital, and Vy Capital [5]. - Other startups like Precision Neuroscience and Synchron are also working to catch up in the brain implant technology space [5]. Group 3: Historical Context - Altman and Musk co-founded OpenAI, but Musk left the board in 2018 due to conflicts with Altman, leading to a competitive dynamic in the AI sector [5]. - Altman has previously speculated that the integration of humans and computers could occur as early as 2025, and he has expressed optimism about high-bandwidth brain-computer interfaces becoming a reality soon [4][5].