OpenAI backed a brain implant that hunts tumors from inside the skull

OpenAI's venture arm and Peter Thiel's Founders Fund backed Coherence Neuro in a $45 million round, WIRED reported on October 21. The San Francisco startup is building an implant, called SOMA, that listens for the faint electrical signals brain tumors give off and answers with mild electrical stimulation meant to slow the tumor down, paired with a wearable and an app that track symptoms and therapy in real time.

The human evidence so far is a 30-minute recording test in three people already undergoing tumor-removal surgery at Royal Melbourne Hospital — a safety check, not a treatment result. Coherence is now testing recording and stimulation in seven more patients and plans a longer-term trial in glioblastoma patients; CEO Ben Woodington says OpenAI will get no access to patients' brain data.