OpenAI’s venture fund and Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund invested in a $45 million seed round for Coherence Neuro, which is building a brain implant that uses AI to detect and treat cancer, according to Emily Mullin at WIRED. The implant reads electrical signals tied to brain tumors to tell whether a cancer is growing or shrinking, and it’s designed to send mild stimulation to stop tumor growth. Coherence briefly tested it in three patients already undergoing tumor surgery in Melbourne and plans to use the money for a long-term trial in people with glioblastoma. CEO Ben Woodington said OpenAI won’t get access to any brain or health data Coherence collects. OpenAI’s January investment in Sam Altman’s Merge Labs, by contrast, came with a plan to collaborate on scientific foundation models.
