FinalSpark
FinalSpark is a Swiss company[1] with a laboratory in Vevey, which is working on biocomputers. Biocomputers use living neurons for processing information[2].
Overview
FinalSpark research[3][4][5][6] focus is biological computing (also called organoid intelligence[7] or wetware computer) which consists of processing information using living neurons in vitro. This approach is believed to be more energy efficient than digital computers. Neurons are usually differentiated from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are themselves derived from human cells. They are cultured as brain organoids and placed on multielectrode arrays for experiments.
Other companies in this field include Koniku (United States) and Cortical Labs (Australia).
History
FinalSpark was founded by Dr. Fred Jordan and Dr. Martin Kutter in 2014. The initial objective was to build a ‘thinking machine’ based on digital computing hardware[8]. In 2019, the company shifted its research towards biocomputing.
FinalSpark is privately owned and funded by the owners.
Technology
FinalSpark uses mainly brain organoids (instead of 2D neural cultures, which are more common in the field). They are interfaced using electrodes and kept alive using an Air-Liquid-Interface setup. A micro-fluidics system enables a constant flow of medium below the organoids. Electrical interaction with neurons is performed using analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters. Both fluidics and electronics systems operate 24/7. It is also possible to release neuromodulators using uncaging[9]. The measurement of action potentials, stimulation of neurons, and neuromodulator release is performed programmatically in Python using a published API. Researchers can log into the system and perform experiments remotely[10], and some universities published results they obtained using it[11].
References
- ↑ "FinalSpark Sàrl". Central Business Name Index of Switzerland.
- ↑ Travers, Scott. "Could Lab-Grown Mini-Brains From Stem Cells Power Tomorrow's AI?". Forbes.
- ↑ Kinard, Jordan. "These Living Computers Are Made from Human Neurons". Scientific American.
- ↑ Tyson, Mark (26 May 2024). "World's first bioprocessor uses 16 human brain organoids for 'a million times less power' consumption than a digital chip". Tom's Hardware.
- ↑ Agarwal, Shubham (17 July 2025). "Scientists want to build 'living' computers—powered by live brain cells". National Geographic. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
- ↑ Pao, Jeff. "FinalSpark explores living neurons as low-energy biocomputers for AI". www.techjournal.uk. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
- ↑ Hansford, Rachael (14 November 2023). "Organoid intelligence".
- ↑ Sanchez, Stephane (10 February 2014). "Ils créent la machine qui pense". La Liberte.
- ↑ Bueneman, Keller. "Dopamine hits to data bits". Digital Kenyon. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Fred, Jordan (May 2, 2024). "Open and remotely accessible Neuroplatform for research in wetware computing". Frontiers. 7. doi:10.3389/frai.2024.1376042. PMC 11097343 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 38756757 Check|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Liu, Tianyi; Philamore, Hemma; Ward-Cherrier, Benjamin (2025-08-28), Encoding Tactile Stimuli for Organoid Intelligence in Braille Recognition, arXiv, doi:10.48550/arXiv.2508.20850, arXiv:2508.20850, retrieved 2025-10-08
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