Is Mind-Reading AI Coming Soon? My First Real AI Nervous Moment

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Jan 17, 2026

AI's progress could soon enable brain-computer interfaces that tap into our thoughts. The intriguing potential includes medical breakthroughs and hands-free control of devices. However, this raises serious privacy concerns, as 'thought data' could become the most valuable and dangerous resource. James discusses the balance between utopia and dystopia, highlighting the fine line between technological benefits and influence risks. The concept of sharing thoughts permanently poses unsettling questions about consent and control over our own minds.

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INSIGHT

How BCIs Translate Thought Into Action

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) read neuronal patterns and map them to intent using AI.
They can restore movement or cursor control by translating thought patterns into actions.

ANECDOTE

OpenAI's Investment Raises Eyebrows

OpenAI invested $250M into Merge Labs shortly after raising $20B.
James notes the overlap: Sam Altman is a founder of both companies, which struck him as unusual.

INSIGHT

Merge Labs' Noninvasive Biological Approach

Merge Labs engineers neurons to be ultrasound-sensitive and returns them via a viral delivery method.
An external ultrasound device on the skull then communicates with those neurons without an implanted chip.

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A Note from James:

Data is oil. Data is the gold of this AI revolution. Imagine you have an AI that has all of everybody’s thoughts also—so it’s not just learning on tweets and texts, it’s learning on the 60,000 or so thoughts that 8 billion people think each day around the world.

This sounds like amazing science fiction and magic and everything that one could ever have dreamed of… or it could be the end of the world.

Episode Description:

In this solo episode, James breaks down a recent AI development that made him pause for the first time: OpenAI’s investment in a brain-computer interface startup called Merge Labs. He explains why data is the core asset in AI—and why the next frontier isn’t better chatbots, but higher-bandwidth access to human intent, attention, and ultimately thought.

James compares Merge Labs’ approach with Neuralink, then walks through the practical upsides: medical breakthroughs, hands-free control of devices, and AI-assisted cognition in everyday life. But he also explores the uncomfortable implications: privacy, influence, and the risk that “thought data” could become the most valuable—and most dangerous—resource on Earth.

What You’ll Learn:

Recognize why “data is oil” is still the most important frame for AI power
Understand what brain-computer interfaces are, and how they differ across companies
Think through real use cases (medical, device control, communication) before the hype takes over
Identify the privacy line: what “training on your thoughts” could actually mean in practice
Pressure-test your own optimism about AI by asking: “Once data is shared, can it be unshared?”

Timestamped Chapters:

[02:00] Data is oil: why AI is really a data arms race
[02:40] Utopia vs dystopia vs “newtopia”
[03:16] The optimist’s argument: tech usually helps more than it hurts
[04:39] The news: OpenAI invests $250M into Merge Labs
[05:29] Why the Sam Altman overlap matters (and why it’s unusual)
[06:02] What brain-computer interfaces actually do
[06:22] Neuralink explained: reading intent from neurons
[07:44] Writing signals back to the brain: the scary part (and the helpful part)
[09:39] Merge Labs’ approach: engineered neurons + ultrasound
[12:47] Controlling devices by thought: the “thermostat from bed” future
[14:35] Telepathy as technology: brain-to-brain messaging
[16:17] Influence risk: persuasion and “writing” thoughts
[18:45] The real moat: not software—data
[19:55] The next dataset: 60,000 thoughts/day × 8B people
[21:36] The irreversible trade: once data is handed over, it’s gone
[22:17] Why this kind of news is accelerating

Additional Resources:

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.