It’s hard to ignore the contradiction at the heart of modern computing: We build ever-more robust AI systems while burning more energy to run them. As generative AI booms and cloud usage expands, data centers expand and more electricity is needed. With each leap in intelligence, we double down on a system that threatens to overheat globally. So what if the future of computing wasn’t silicon? What if it were alive?

Fred Jordan, physicist and founder of FinalSpark, is doing more than asking the question. His team is answering it by working to build the first living processors. These systems use real human neurons, cultivated from stem cells, to perform computation. That means replacing digital simulations with biological brains-on-a-chip. It’s an entirely new category of computing, and designed to solve AI’s energy problem. Fred walks us through how it works, why it matters, and where this frontier could take us.

Quotes:

1. “We realized that biological neurons are one million times more power-efficient than their digital counterparts.”
2. “This is going to be a new industry—moving from digital to biology for processing information.”
3. “If you do all this right, you may have fruitful discussions with those neurons.”

Takeaways:

• Explore how living neurons could replace silicon in specific types of AI processing.
• Understand the scientific and technical complexity of building and sustaining living processors.
• Learn how Final Spark is opening its platform to researchers around the world to accelerate breakthroughs.
• Consider the long-term ethical and technological implications of training biological brains for computational tasks.

Timestamps:

[00:02] Fred Jordan’s origin story and the idea behind Final Spark:

[01:01] The power problem in AI simulations:

[02:53] Building brain organoids and connecting them to electrodes:

[04:17] The technical challenges of sustaining neuron life:

[06:26] What a bio server is and how it works:

[07:38] How living processors can reshape sustainability:

[08:36] The future of training biological neurons:

[10:20] Live neuron activity and open access to researchers:

[11:24] Early commercial applications and research partnerships:

[11:55] Why this work matters beyond the lab:

Conclusion:

Fred Jordan isn’t building faster computers—he’s building different ones. By growing neurons and training them to compute, he’s laying the groundwork for a future where biology replaces transistors in parts of our digital world. It’s still early, but the implications are enormous. In an era defined by data and electricity, Final Spark’s approach offers something radical: intelligence that doesn’t drain the grid.

Links/Resources:

Website: https://finalspark.com

Live Neuron Activity: https://finalspark.com/live

Fred Jordan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fred-jordan-44410a15/

For more deep dives into breakthrough technologies transforming our future, visit: https://www.fulltechahead.com.