Gabe Newell, the co-founder of Valve Corporation, renowned for creating Steam and iconic games like Half-Life and Portal, has quietly ventured into a new frontier: brain-computer interfaces (BCIs).
His latest endeavor, Starfish Neuroscience, has emerged from stealth mode with ambitious plans to launch its first brain chip by the end of 2025.
This “electrophysiological” chip is designed to record brain activity and stimulate neural regions, marking a significant step toward integrating human cognition with technology.
Unlike competitors like Neuralink, which focus on highly invasive implants, Starfish Neuroscience is prioritizing a less invasive approach.
The company’s chip aims to access multiple brain regions simultaneously, offering broader functionality than single-region interfaces. Notably, the implant will operate without a battery, potentially reducing risks and improving longevity.
This design could set Starfish apart in the competitive BCI landscape, where minimizing invasiveness while maximizing capability remains a key challenge.
Newell’s interest in brain-computer interfaces isn’t entirely new. As early as 2019, Valve began exploring BCI applications for gaming, as seen in discussions about leveraging neural inputs for immersive experiences (YouTube: https://youtu.be/Qhj3C1H5JWo).
Starfish Neuroscience builds on this vision, with potential applications extending beyond gaming to medical therapies, cognitive enhancement, and human-machine integration.
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While details about the chip’s development and testing remain sparse, Starfish’s announcement signals Newell’s commitment to pushing technological boundaries.
As the BCI field heats up, all eyes will be on Starfish Neuroscience to see if it can deliver a game-changer — both literally and figuratively — by the end of 2025.
