An Australian startup is building what could become one of the world’s first “biological data centers” — augmenting silicon computing chips with those seeded with living human neurons.
Cortical Labs, the company behind the effort, has opened its first facility in Melbourne, Australia, and is planning a larger site in Singapore. Instead of racks filled entirely with traditional servers, these sites will house the company’s CL1 systems, which combine lab-grown neurons with standard electronic components. The aim is not to replace silicon outright but to explore whether living neural systems can complement existing hardware in specific computing tasks.
The concept has a deceptively simple premise: Neurons are already information processors. Neurons in the brain pass electrical signals between each other, forming patterns that change over time. Some of these connections get stronger, while others weaken, creating a constant reshaping that underpins learning. Traditional chips don’t behave like that, since they follow set instructions instead of adjusting based on feedback.
Researchers have spent years trying to harness biological learning. In earlier work published in the journal Neuron, Cortical Labs researchers grew neurons on a chip and then taught them to play a simplified version of Pong by connecting them to a simulated environment. This feat relied on a closed feedback loop: When the neurons produced useful behavior, the inputs became more predictable; when they didn’t, the signals grew more chaotic. Over time, the neurons settled into more stable patterns.
That same principle underpins more recent demonstrations, including experiments where similar systems interacted with simplified versions of the game Doom. These setups remain highly constrained, but they show that living neural networks can be nudged toward goal-directed behavior when embedded in a feedback-driven system.
Living computer chips
The CL1 system is a hybrid device, with each unit containing roughly 200,000 human neurons derived from stem cells and grown directly onto a silicon chip. Those neurons are arranged across a microelectrode array, which acts as the interface between biology and electronics. The electrodes can stimulate the cells with electrical signals and record the resulting activity in real time.
Surrounding this is a life-support system that keeps the cells alive, provides nutrients, regulates temperature, and maintains a stable environment. A software layer then translates between the biological signals and digital inputs and outputs, effectively turning patterns of neural activity into something a computer can use.
