Inside datacenter where day starts with cerebrospinal fluid

"We remove the fluid every 24 hours because the living neurons that power the company's computers deplete the level of oxygen and glucose in the liquid. An employee therefore starts the day by adding fluid to the biological computers in the company's datacenter. Those admins also adjust the mixture of gases in the computers."

"Chong claims the neurons in biological computers can learn about the simulated environments they inhabit and devise novel approaches to challenges they face within them. The CEO says they can do that faster than classical computers, create original ideas instead of regurgitating and re-ordering information like LLMs, and do it all while using less energy than conventional datacenters."

"Cortical Labs has therefore launched a cloud service. The company racked and stacked 120 CL1 units and created an API and interface that allows users to create a Jupyter Notebook or upload python code, and have it run on a biological computer. Users pay for the cloud with a credit card."

Cortical Labs operates a datacenter in Melbourne using biological computers powered by living neurons instead of traditional silicon chips. These systems require daily maintenance, including replenishing cerebrospinal fluid that neurons deplete through oxygen and glucose consumption, and adjusting atmospheric gas mixtures to maintain approximately five percent oxygen levels. The company claims biological computers can learn from simulated environments, devise novel solutions faster than classical computers, generate original ideas unlike large language models, and operate with significantly lower energy consumption. However, the nascent biological computing industry faces challenges due to limited cell availability and expertise. Cortical Labs has launched a cloud service with 120 CL1 units, allowing users to submit code via API or Jupyter Notebook for execution on biological computers, though preparation takes approximately one week per job.

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