Good morning ☀️, leader of the next generation.

Technology is reshaping how the world works.

The real question is not what it can do — but how we choose to use it.

We focus on using technology to support human evolution.

Progress works when responsibility stays human.

⚡ WHAT'S AT STAKE TODAY ⚡

1. 🧠🤖 OpenAI invests in Sam Altman's brain computer interface startup Merge Labs
2. 📈💰 Parloa triples its valuation in 8 months to $3B with $350M raise
3. 🇮🇳👥 India's Emversity doubles valuation as it scales workers AI can't replace
4. 🚪💼 Mira Murati's startup, Thinking Machines Lab, is losing two of its co-founders to OpenAI
5. 💬🌍 After Italy, WhatsApp excludes Brazil from rival chatbot ban
6. 🇺🇸📊 The US imposes 25% tariff on Nvidia's H200 AI chips headed to China
7. 🎥🚀 AI video startup, Higgsfield, founded by ex-Snap exec, lands $1.3B valuation
8. 🇹🇼💰 Taiwan to invest $250B in US semiconductor manufacturing
9. 📚🤝 Wikimedia Foundation announces new AI partnerships with Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Perplexity, and others

OpenAI backs CEO's brain-computer interface company in circular deal

OpenAI invests in Sam Altman's brain computer interface startup Merge Labs

OpenAI has made a significant investment in Merge Labs, a brain-computer interface startup co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, raising questions about potential conflicts of interest in the AI industry.

Merge Labs emerged from stealth mode Thursday, announcing an undisclosed seed round totaling $250 million at an $850 million valuation. OpenAI contributed the largest single investment, with additional backing from Bain Capital, Interface Fund, Fifty Years, and video game developer Gabe Newell.

The startup describes itself as a research lab focused on "bridging biological and artificial intelligence to maximize human ability." Unlike competitors such as Elon Musk's Neuralink, which requires invasive surgical procedures, Merge Labs aims to develop non-invasive technologies that interface with neurons using molecules rather than electrodes, utilizing deep-reaching modalities like ultrasound.

This development intensifies the competition between Altman and Musk in the brain-computer interface space. Neuralink, valued at $9 billion following a $650 million Series E round in June 2025, currently relies on surgical implantation of electrode threads to read neural signals and help paralyzed patients control devices with their thoughts.

Merge Labs' ambitious vision extends beyond medical applications, aiming to fulfill Silicon Valley's dream of merging human biology with AI for superhuman capabilities. The company's statement suggests their technology could "restore lost abilities, support healthier brain states, deepen our connection with each other, and expand what we can imagine and create alongside advanced AI."

The startup's co-founder lineup includes Alex Blania and Sandro Herbig from Tools for Humanity (another Altman-backed venture behind World orbs), Tyson Aflalo and Sumner Norman from Forest Neurotech, and Caltech researcher Mikhail Shapiro. Most co-founders plan to maintain their existing roles at their respective organizations.

OpenAI justified its investment by emphasizing BCIs as "an important new frontier" that will create "natural, human-centered" ways to interact with AI. The partnership will focus on developing scientific foundation models and frontier tools to accelerate progress in bioengineering, neuroscience, and device engineering.

The circular nature of this deal is striking: if Merge Labs succeeds, it could drive more users to OpenAI's platforms, justifying the investment while increasing the value of a startup Altman owns using resources from the company he leads. This arrangement potentially allows Merge Labs to function as a sophisticated remote control for OpenAI's software.

This investment pattern isn't isolated. OpenAI, primarily through its Startup Fund, has invested in several Altman-connected companies, including Red Queen Bio, Rain AI, and Harvey. The company has also established commercial agreements with Altman's other ventures, such as nuclear fusion startup Helion Energy and nuclear fission company Oklo.

Additionally, OpenAI is collaborating with Jony Ive's io startup (acquired last year) to develop screen-free AI hardware, with unconfirmed reports suggesting an earbud device.

Altman has been advocating for human-machine merger since 2017, predicting it would occur between 2025 and 2075. He views this "merge" as humanity's "best-case scenario" for surviving the emergence of superintelligent AI, which he considers a potential threat to human existence.

"We will be the first species ever to design our own descendants," Altman wrote in 2017. "My guess is that we can either be the biological bootloader for digital intelligence and then fade into an evolutionary tree branch, or we can figure out what a successful merge looks like."

As the brain-computer interface field rapidly evolves, this investment highlights the increasingly interconnected nature of AI leadership and the blurring lines between personal ventures and corporate interests in Silicon Valley's quest to reshape human-technology interaction.

Berlin AI startup's valuation soars to $3B amid competition

Parloa triples its valuation in 8 months to $3B with $350M raise

Berlin-based Parloa secured $350 million in Series D funding led by General Catalyst, tripling its valuation to $3 billion just eight months after reaching $1 billion. The customer service AI startup competes with Sierra, Decagon, and others in automating contact center operations.

With over $50 million in annual recurring revenue, Parloa serves enterprise clients including Allianz and Booking.com. CEO Malte Kosub believes the massive funding round positions the company as a leader targeting the global market of 17 million contact center agents worldwide.

🎙️ The Supercharged Podcast Is Growing

Conversations with the People Building the AI Future

The Supercharged Podcast is becoming a place where real conversations about AI happen — beyond hype, tools, or surface-level takes.

We sit down with industry leaders, founders, builders, and operators who are actively using AI — or building AI-first businesses — to understand how it’s actually changing the way work gets done.

From strategy and systems to experimentation and execution, these are practical, honest conversations with people shaping what comes next.

👉 Explore the Supercharged Podcast

Wikipedia partners with major AI companies through Wikimedia Enterprise program.

⚡ Let’s Make AI Actually Useful:
What Would Move the Needle in *Your* Industry?

AI has potential — but generic advice rarely helps.

What would be genuinely valuable for AI to do in your industry right now?

• Automate a painful workflow?
• Improve decision-making?
• Replace a manual process that wastes time?
• Help your team upskill faster?

Tell us what you’d want AI to handle — or where you feel stuck.

We’re using these insights to curate **industry-specific trainings, live webinars, and practical guidance** you can actually apply.