Merge Labs signs ultrasound-chip deal with Butterfly Network
Sam Altman's BCI start-up will use Butterfly's Ultrasound-on-Chip technology under an exclusive multi-year license to build ultrasound-based brain interfaces.
Merge Labs, the brain-computer interface company co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, has signed a multi-year licensing agreement with Butterfly Network, maker of handheld ultrasound devices.
The deal
Merge gets access to Butterfly’s Poseidon family of Ultrasound-on-Chip technology, which puts thousands of ultrasound elements on a semiconductor chip. Butterfly becomes Merge’s exclusive partner for this type of chip-based ultrasound, though Butterfly can still license its technology to other BCI companies. The agreement includes upfront and milestone payments, hardware purchase commitments and royalties on future sales.
Why ultrasound
Merge launched in January with $252 million in seed funding (our coverage). It aims to read and influence brain activity without electrodes, combining ultrasound with molecular tools. Co-founder Tyson Aflalo said the team believes ultrasound could “enable a new generation of neural interfaces.” Chip-based ultrasound could make such systems small enough to wear.
Why it matters
The deal signals that Merge is moving from research toward building hardware, and it gives a medical-imaging company a new market in neurotechnology. Merge has not yet published human results.
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