This Startup Fused Human Brain Cells with Silicon Chips | E2295
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Today’s show:
Cortical Labs is the world’s first company selling biological computers. Their CL1 fuses lab-grown human neurons (derived from stem cells, not actual folks) with silicon hardware to create Synthetic Biological Intelligence (SBI).
Founder Dr. Hon Weng Chong walks us through how the system works and why neurons are more efficient than GPUs at reinforcement learning. (Also… is this computer alive?)
PLUS Pyka co-founder and CEO Michael Norcia explains the various uses for his autonomous aircraft, from crop-spraying drones in Brazil to a a hybrid-electric defense UAV for the military.
Guests:
Cortical Labs: ****https://corticallabs.com/
Dr. Hon Weng Chong on X: https://x.com/dr1337
Pyka: https://www.flypyka.com/
Pyka on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flypyka/?hl=en
Further Reading:
2022 Pong paper in Neuron: https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(22)00806-6
2017 Paper: “Attention is All You Need”; https://arxiv.org/abs/1706.03762
The “Barista Test” for Artificial Intelligence: Chris Rourk: https://medium.com/predict/the-turing-test-is-so-last-century-the-barista-test-for-artificial-general-intelligence-faf91034fa8c
Notable Links:
Playing “DOOM” on CL1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRV8fSw6HaE
DayOne Data Center: https://dayonedc.com/
NeurIPS 2026 Conference: https://neurips.cc/
Neuralink: https://neuralink.com/
CliniCloud Digital Stethoscope and Thermometer: https://www.design-industry.com.au/clinicloud
Air Force Research Laboratory (AFWERX): https://afwerx.com/
Joby Aviation: https://www.jobyaviation.com/
Prime Movers Lab: https://www.primemoverslab.com/
Timestamps:
0:00 What is "biological computing"?
2:49 Cortical's new $30 million raise
4:15 The world's first biological data center
9:48 Deel - Founders scale faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes, hire anyone anywhere, get visas handled fast, and get back to building. Visit https://deel.com/twist to learn more.
10:51 Biological computers have a learning advantage
19:43 Quo (formerly OpenPhone) - Quo gives you a clean, modern way to handle every customer call, text, and thread all in one place. Try it free at https://quo.com/TWiST
29:15 LinkedIn Jobs - Hire right, the first time. Post your first job and get $100 off towards your job post at https://LinkedIn.com/twist
38:46 From paper airplanes to Group 4 UAVs
52:20 Introducing the DropShip defense drone
58:28 How regulations block US drones
1:00:40 Why Pyka builds everything in-house
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TWiST 500 interviews with Cortical Labs, Turing, AND Mercor | E2159
Today’s show:
Alex is back with three more awesome interviews with founders on the bleeding edge of innovative tech.
Dr. Hon Weng Chong walks us through the basics of biological computing and Cortical Labs’ first-ever commercial computer running on living human cells.
Turing founder Jonathan Siddarth unpacks the secrets of LLM benchmarking, and explains why even our most advanced tests need to get much much harder right away.
Finally, Mercor founder Brendan Foody on how AI is about to reinvent the hiring process, and marrying the effectiveness of recruiters with the ease of online job boards.
It’s three — count ’em, three — can’t miss TWiST interviews guaranteed to make you smarter
Timestamps:
(0:00) OpenAI’s GPT-5: When is it coming out? Is it going to be TOO smart?
(08:06) Cortical Labs’ Hon Weng Chong on the electric connection between neuroscience and machine learning
(10:20) Northwest Registered Agent. Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!
(11:27) Show Continues…
(15:17) The extreme difficulty of going from the lab to a shippable product
(20:00) .TECH: Say it without saying it. Head to www.get.tech/twist or your favorite registrar to get a clean, sharp .tech domain today.
(21:05) Show Continues…
(28:15) Why data is a factor of time
(29:52) AWS Activate - AWS Activate helps startups bring their ideas to life. Apply to AWS Activate today to learn more. Visit aws.amazon.com/startups/credits
(31:16) Show Continues…
(42:44) Turing CEO Jonathan Siddarth explains why it’s so important to keep benchmarking our LLMs
(47:24) What it means when a model “saturates” a test, and why benchmarks need to get HARDER
(50:22) What happens with the LLMs can answer all of our smartest questions?
(53:44) AI Agents train in gyms? Wait, really?
(01:01:33) Coding teaches models how to think, and more training mysteries don’t understand
(01:03:11) Brendan Foody from Mercor explains the “matching problem” that makes hiring such a pain
(01:07:02) How Mercor combines a job board’s distribution with the value of a recruitment agency
(01:10:49) Brendan recalls building his first AI interviewer in his college dorm
(01:20:16) Mercor has the opposite of a retention problem and crazy growth
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Thank you to our partners:
(10:20) Northwest Registered Agent. Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!
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(29:52) AWS Activate - AWS Activate helps startups bring their ideas to life. Apply to AWS Activate today to learn more. Visit aws.amazon.com/startups/credits
Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland
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