Cortical Labs are creating the world’s first biological data center made of human neurons.

Australian startup Cortical Labs is building biological data centers in Melbourne and Singapore. They use CL1 computers that contain about 200,000 living human neurons grown from skin or blood cells and connected to silicon chips with microelectrodes. The neurons process signals, while software translates their responses into digital actions, such as controlling video games.

In March, the company demonstrated that the CL1 learned to play Doom in about a week. The Melbourne data center currently has 120 devices, and a larger center with around 1,000 CL1 units is planned in Singapore in partnership with DayOne.

The main advantage is extremely low energy consumption: one CL1 uses about 30 watts, while a GPU can consume up to 6,000 watts. Each device costs around $35,000, and researchers can access neuron cultures through the Cortical Cloud platform for about $300 per week.

The main challenge is keeping the cells alive: they typically function for 5–6 months, although the longest recorded lifespan has reached about 500 days. The technology is still at an early stage but is considered a promising area of biocomputing (Synthetic Biological Intelligence), where real neurons perform computations and may use far less energy than traditional processors.