Barcelona, 2025 – A hushed anticipation filled the halls of the Mobile World Congress as Melbourne-based Cortical Labs unveiled a technological marvel that could redefine computing as we know it. The CL1, the world’s first commercial biological computer, powered by living human brain cells, was finally here.
A Leap Beyond Silicon
For years, the tech industry had been chasing faster, more efficient computing. Quantum computing had promised a revolution, but Cortical Labs had taken a different path—one that blurred the line between machine and biology. The CL1 wasn’t just a computer; it was a hybrid intelligence, merging synthetic circuits with clusters of cultured human neurons.
“Why fight biology when we can work with it?” Dr. Hon Weng Chong, CEO of Cortical Labs, asked the audience. His team had spent years developing DishBrain, a system that taught living brain cells to play Pong. Now, with the CL1, they had scaled that research into something commercially viable—an organic processor that could learn, adapt, and evolve.
The Power of Living Intelligence
Unlike traditional chips that process information in rigid, binary patterns, CL1 functioned like a human brain—using synaptic connections to recognize patterns, adapt to new information, and even self-optimize. This made it exponentially more efficient at tasks like AI training, autonomous systems, and real-time data processing.
Tech enthusiasts and investors were in awe as a CL1-powered system demonstrated real-time adaptability, solving problems in ways that no traditional AI could. It wasn’t just executing commands; it was thinking.
The Ethical Debate
But with innovation came controversy. If a computer was made of living brain cells, was it alive? Did it have consciousness? Could it feel? Cortical Labs reassured the public that the neurons in CL1 had no self-awareness—only computational functionality. Yet, the moral questions persisted, sparking debates in labs and legal offices worldwide.
The Future Has Arrived
As the presentation concluded, one thing was clear—the CL1 was not just another tech product. It was the beginning of an era where biology and technology intertwined. Whether a breakthrough or a Pandora’s box, Cortical Labs had ushered in a future where computers didn’t just compute—they learned, adapted, and perhaps, one day, understood.
Welcome to the age of living machines.
