[FoxNews] Melbourne scientists grow human brain cells on silicon chipsA team of researchers in Australia has been awarded more than $403,000 in federal funding to merge human brain cells with artificial intelligence.
Melbourne's Monash University, which led the research into growing human brain cells on silicon chips, said in a release that the money came from the National Intelligence and Security Discovery Research Grants Program.
The program was led by Turner Institute Associate Professor Adeel Razi and is a collaboration with start-up Cortical Labs.
It involves growing around 800,000 brain cells living in a dish, which are then "taught" to perform goal-directed tasks.
Last year, the cells' ability to play the game Pong while living in a dish received international attention. The scientists published those findings in the journal "Neuron."
"This new technology capability in the future may eventually surpass the performance of existing, purely silicon-based hardware," Razi explained.