Neurons for rent

The main goal of FinalSpark, a company based in Vevey, is to create a living calculator. In other words, an artificial intelligence that uses human neurons and not digital ones as is the case with ChatGPT, for example. FinalSpark was created by Fred Jordan and Martin Kutter in 2014. “We challenged ourselves to revolutionise artificial intelligence. At first, we tried to produce digital neurons. The results were encouraging, but a major problem remained: our prototypes consumed far too much energy. This became even more apparent when we talked with a friend who worked at EPFL on the Human Brain Project, a project that attempts to simulate a real human brain. He explained that the human brain uses only twenty watts to run 100 billion neurons, whereas our prototypes needed several kilowatts to power a hundred. That’s when we realised that instead of trying to mimic neurons, we could use real ones,” says Fred Jordan.

The neural cells developed by FinalSpark come from pluripotent stem cells, that is, cells capable of becoming any type of cell. Using a specific protocol, the FinalSpark team forces these cells to transform into neural cells, creating a brain organoid. This small sphere of half a millimeter is then placed on eight electrodes, and the experiments can begin. They are mainly concerned with electrophysiology, an area of research whose aim is to study the electrical activity of neurons. “Concretely, the aim is to teach these neurons something. The goal would be that after showing a large amount of images and telling it which ones are dogs or cats, artificial intelligence could tell the difference between an image showing one animal or another on its own,” explains Fred Jordan.

During COVID, Fred Jordan’s team developed a program that allows them to continue their experiments on neurons, remotely, from home. A service they then decided to put up for rent. This way of doing research is called teleoperation. Away from laboratories and pipettes, anyone can conduct experiments. “We work with both universities and private individuals. The projects using our neuron rental service are very varied. Of course, there are projects related to medicine, but leaders in the automotive sector also have access to it, for example,” says the entrepreneur.

Although this project of a living calculator is still under development, the use of living human neurons to create machines raises ethical questions. “We are pretty sure that one day human neurologic tissue will be used to process information. This method consumes less energy and is therefore cheaper, which should be of interest to large groups active in this field. Therefore, it is important to ask questions about the ethics of this project. To try to answer this question, last October in Amsterdam, we attended for the first time a philosophy conference to present our project. These experts are much more qualified than we are to assess the ethical aspects of our methods,” says the entrepreneur from Vevey.