Overview
- NUS, Cortical Labs and DayOne put a 20‑unit biologically integrated rack into operation that went live on July 16 as a research prototype at NUS’s Life Sciences Institute.
- Each CL1 unit combines lab‑grown human cortical neurons on a silicon microelectrode array with Cortical Labs’ biOS to create a feedback loop that lets the tissue respond to electrical inputs.
- Reports say each unit contains between about 200,000 and 800,000 neurons and consumes roughly 30 watts including life support, a figure the teams contrast with >700 watts for a high‑end GPU.
- The biological cultures are fed every three days, kept in controlled gas and temperature conditions, last roughly six months before replacement, and the developers say the units do not generate consciousness.
- DayOne has discussed scaling to as many as 1,000 units but regulators, ethical review and the recurring costs and logistics of cell replacement must be resolved before any commercial roll‑out.