Gates and Bezos invested in a neurotech startup that outpaced Musk’s company
Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates funds invested in competitor Neuralink
Neurotechnology startup Synchron raised $75 million. Bezos Expeditions (Jeff Bezos Foundation) and Gates Frontier (Bill Gates Foundation) took part in the investment round.
As a result, the amount of all funds raised reached $145 million. Synchron will direct investments to accelerate the development and testing of brain-computer interfaces (they are also called “brain computers”).
In 2021, the startup received permission from the US Food and Drug Administration to test neural interfaces on humans. Synchron was ahead of Elon Musk’s Neuralink, which is developing a brain implant, and was the first in the United States to introduce a neural interface into the human brain.
Earlier, Neuralink co-founder Max Hodak launched Science Corp, which created an implant for people with vision problems: a film that is installed over the retina of the eye. The development has only been tested in rabbits, and human testing should begin within two years.
