This sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole after skimming through the article…
I’m guilty of going on about the luxury side of this, but Leviathan has also been designed with scientific work in mind: Newell’s interests now include Starfish Neuroscience, a company focused on neural interfaces (popularly known as “brain chips”), and Inkfish, a marine research operation
Neural interfaces? Uh oh, that reminds me of another billionaire and a heart-breaking story about animal testing.
Unlike bulky, invasive BCIs used in medical settings, the Starfish chip is designed to be minimally invasive, leveraging a proprietary array of microelectrodes that attach to the scalp.
The device’s compact design, roughly the size of a postage stamp, also addresses a common hurdle in consumer neurotech: wearability. Early prototypes suggest the chip could be discreetly integrated into headbands, VR headsets, or even augmented reality glasses.
Oh ok… well that doesn’t sound as bad. Wait, didn’t Valve just announce a new VR headset that has a port which can be used for 3rd party accessories?
BCIs inevitably raise questions about privacy, data security, and ethical AI use. Starfish claims its device anonymizes neural data and processes most information locally, rather than cloud servers. Still, skeptics argue that neural data’s intimate nature demands stricter regulatory frameworks.
Dr. Rachel Kim, a bioethicist at Stanford University, cautions, “The benefits are immense, but we need clear guidelines on who owns brain data and how it’s monetized. This isn’t just another app—it’s a window into the human mind.”
If I recall correctly Newell himself has made comments on how scary brain interfaces become when the interfaces can start influencing the mind as well as reading it. Giving it positive signals in association with certain ideas or products, essentially a shortcut to what traditional advertising tried to exploit about human cognition, except now it could be forced directly, where you can essentially “force” people’s brains to be happy with a certain situation, idea, or product. He is at least cognizant of the dangers, but who knows how cognizant or how he plans to address those dangers.
This sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole after skimming through the article…
Neural interfaces? Uh oh, that reminds me of another billionaire and a heart-breaking story about animal testing.
https://www.gsmgotech.com/2025/05/gabe-newellbacked-starfish-bci-chip-to.html
Oh ok… well that doesn’t sound as bad. Wait, didn’t Valve just announce a new VR headset that has a port which can be used for 3rd party accessories?
Hmmm…
If I recall correctly Newell himself has made comments on how scary brain interfaces become when the interfaces can start influencing the mind as well as reading it. Giving it positive signals in association with certain ideas or products, essentially a shortcut to what traditional advertising tried to exploit about human cognition, except now it could be forced directly, where you can essentially “force” people’s brains to be happy with a certain situation, idea, or product. He is at least cognizant of the dangers, but who knows how cognizant or how he plans to address those dangers.