The Biological Computing Company brings rat brain AI to AWS

The Biological Computing Company was founded in Baltimore, Maryland four years ago by two neuroscientists and neurosurgeons: Alexander Ksendzovsky, now CEO, and Jon Pomeraniec, who serves as president and COO. Earlier this year, TBC raised $25 million from a group of investors led by Primary Venture Partners. Shortly after that round closed in March, the company secured an additional $25 million, bringing its funding total to more than $50 million — a round that has not been previously reported. Last year the startup opened offices and a small research and development lab in San Francisco, where 35 employees work directly with rat brain cells as well as human stem cells.

The living cells are placed on multi-electrode silicon arrays made by 3Brain, a Swiss biotech company. Researchers use the arrays to send electrical stimulation patterns into the neurons and record how they respond. TBC then analyzes that neural activity for computational patterns that can be translated into software and used to improve existing AI models, specifically video generation models. The decision to focus on video out of the gate was both scientific and practical, says Ksendzovsky. One factor was the physical layout of the multi-electrode silicon arrays — the place where each electrode sits affects how it interacts with the neurons. The company realized images were a natural place to start, since visual information could be mapped onto the grid more readily than text or language.

Pomeraniec says that Jeff Dean, a prominent AI researcher and TBC investor, was the person who first suggested that the company try fine-tuning video generation models before trying to apply its neural tech more broadly. Because there's already accepted industry benchmarks for video models, the startup could show early on whether its tech represented a meaningful scientific advancement. Previously, TBC's technology was only available through a neocloud provider called Bluesky Compute. Now that Amazon is distributing TBC's software, the ambitious startup could potentially reach a much larger customer base — but Amazon's Ubhi says it remains to be seen how well its technology can scale. As TBC enters its next phase, the company will be looking to see whether its technology holds up as new customers try pushing it to the limit.