Revision History

A handful of startups — led by Australia's Cortical Labs, Switzerland's FinalSpark, and California's Koniku — are growing human neurons on silicon chips and attempting to use them for computation, from playing Doom to detecting chemical threats. While proponents argue biological neurons offer radical energy efficiency and natural learning capabilities that silicon cannot match, critics warn the science is overhyped, the regulatory framework is nearly nonexistent, and the ethical questions around sentience and donor consent remain unresolved.