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Science

Human Neurons Playing Doom

· 29 March 2026 · 3 sources

Australian biotech company Cortical Labs has demonstrated a groundbreaking achievement by growing 200,000 living human neurons on a silicon chip that played the classic 1993 first-person shooter game Doom. The neurons controlled the game character in real time, exhibiting adaptive and goal-directed learning despite frequent in-game deaths. This milestone highlights the potential of neuromorphic computing, which mimics the brain's architecture to create more energy-efficient AI systems. Given AI's rapidly increasing energy demands, this approach could revolutionize how AI learns and operates, moving beyond traditional silicon chips. The experiment marks a significant step toward integrating biological neural networks with computing hardware, potentially transforming AI development and applications.

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Sources (3)

Computer chip material inspired by the human brain could slash AI energy use Hacker News 28 Mar 2026, 23:04
How human neurons on a chip learned to play Doom Scientific American 28 Mar 2026, 11:00
The Silicon Brain: Why Neuromorphic Computing is the Future of AI Dev.to 28 Mar 2026, 10:21

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