A data center was established from a living human brain: CL1 computer, working with millions of brain cells, was introduced

A historic technological breakthrough has been achieved in the world of bio-engineering, artificial intelligence, neuroscience and data technologies that will radically change computer architecture. The National University of Singapore School of Medicine (NUS Medicine), data center developer DayOne and Melbourne-based startup Cortical Labs have launched the "Biological Data Center" project, which works with live neurons derived from human stem cells. The facility, which has incorporated 20 "CL1" coded bio-computer units as of August 2026, brought together traditional silicon chips and human brain cells ("wetware" technology) on the same platform.

800 THOUSAND LIVE NEURONS WORK NON-STOP IN EACH UNIT

Each CL1 biocomputer unit used in the system contains between 200 thousand and 800 thousand human neurons whose vitality is preserved in special life support solutions. Special tubes that keep neurons alive for up to six months enable brain cells to transmit commands to traditional data processors via electrical signals.

Professor Rickie Patani, Director of Neurobiology at NUS Medicine, reported that by combining living human neurons with precision engineering, they have produced a super-efficient alternative to silicon chips. Patani noted that the system will transform laboratory data into real-time results in the treatment of neurological diseases and new drug discoveries.

LIVE BRAIN CELLS PLAYING PONG AND DOOM

Cortical Labs researchers, who laid the foundations of bio-computer technology, documented in their study previously published in the respected medical journal Neuron that 800 thousand living brain cells learned to play the legendary video game Pong and then the first-person shooter game DOOM.

The developers were able to give digital commands to living neurons by exploiting the drive of brain cells to minimize unpredictability in the environment (the free energy principle). It is emphasized that biocomputers will support existing artificial intelligence models in the fields of pharmaceutical industry, cyber security, fraud detection and robotics.

HUGE ENERGY SAVINGS AGAINST DIGITAL COMPUTERS

While the high electricity consumption of traditional data centers and huge artificial intelligence servers is turning into a global crisis, bio-computers working with live neurons consume energy on a millisecond basis and at a minimum level.

Experts who bring the human brain's real-time learning and data processing capacity with minimum energy to the digital world; He states that the artificial intelligence architecture of the future will be built on biological systems. Bioethicists are closely monitoring whether these organoid networks, which are still at an embryonic level, will develop "consciousness and the feeling of pain" in the future.