© FinalSpark
And if the human brain was ultimately just a kind of ultra energy-efficient supercomputer? That's what it is in any case that the latest advances from the Swiss startup FinalSpark suggest. The latter claims to have created the first “bioprocessor”. Understand a processor, as found in computers, but which works with living tissue – in this case human neurons, cultivated into what the firm's researchers call “organoids” (a sort of small brain), and connected via electrodes to more conventional systems.
Enough to unlock a new frontier, and at the same time learn more about the nature of our brain – and undoubtedly ultimately our conscience. Thanks to this approach, and a series of software innovations, the firm explains having developed a “neuroplatform” of 16 organoids – the first of its kind – allowing us to imagine new ways of running all kinds of calculations (including LLM models), on these kinds of brains grown in the laboratory.
And if the robots “of flesh” that we see in Westworld were not so far away ?
These bioprocessors are in fact, according to FinalSpark, capable of& #8217;learning, but also processing various types of information. Beyond this feat, the startup explains that this platform consumes 1 million times less energy than traditional processors (on silicon). In the paper published by the firm, its team of researchers cites the example of learning the GPT-3 model which would have required some 10 GWh, or more than 6,000 times the consumption of ;#8217;a European citizen.
Obviously, this advance is likely, if confirmed, to accelerate not only the development of artificial intelligence… but also the integration of particularly advanced models directly into humanoid robots, among other examples. Obviously, several questions remain. Since we are talking about living matter, the lifespan of the latter (and the conditions for its survival) is undoubtedly the first point to be clarified to make these bioprocessors viable.
The other question is that of the exact power of the platform, as well as the possibility of changing scale depending on the applications. FinalSpark offers a handful of institutions access to the capabilities of its bioprocessor, via the cloud. Enough to allow a first in situ test of resource sharing on this type of platform.
- A Swiss startup announces having developed the first “bioprocessor” based on human neurons.
- The latter would have several advantages, notably a million times lower consumption compared to conventional processors.
- The first platform of its kind was opened to a handful of institutions allowing a first in situ test.
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