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Bridge Neurotech has launched with $13.5 million in reported funding to develop a wearable, non-invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) that uses ultrasound. The startup is positioned as a rival to Sam Altman-backed Merge Labs, but neither company’s proposed approach should be mistaken for a finished, commercially available device. Bridge’s first reported study is observational and enrolling in Redwood City, California.
What Bridge Neurotech is building
Bridge says it is developing a wearable system that uses ultrasound to sense brain activity without implanting electrodes. The company has not released device images. Founder and CEO Will Biederman described the intended form as “something close to headphones,” with a probe near the temporal window just above the ear. He told WIRED that this is “the easiest place to image through.”
The startup’s initial work is focused on transcranial sensing techniques and making the resulting data useful. Its website describes ultrasound as “The unlock [that] has been sitting in every hospital the whole time.” That is the company’s rationale for the technology, not evidence that a wearable BCI is ready for consumers.
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How ultrasound can detect brain activity
Ultrasound can detect echoes from moving red blood cells and, from those echoes, measure blood flow. Because changes in blood flow are associated with neural activity, the signal may provide information about what the brain is doing. It is an indirect measure: it does not record neurons’ electrical impulses directly.
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That distinction matters for speed. Neural firing precedes the related change in blood flow and volume by a natural delay of a few seconds. Maryam Shanechi, a neuroengineer at the University of Southern California, told WIRED that the method “captures a slower variation in neural activity.” She added, “That’s fine for a lot of applications, but it depends what you want to build.”
Bridge has said it plans to use predictive AI models to reduce the lag. That is a development plan, not a published result or demonstrated performance measure. The delay could make rapid tasks—such as typing at speed or instantly controlling a robotic limb—more challenging than applications that can tolerate slower feedback.
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Can ultrasound read brain activity without surgery?
Ultrasound offers a possible route to brain sensing without an implanted device, but sending useful ultrasound through the skull remains a major technical hurdle. Bone scatters and absorbs ultrasound. The temporal window above the ear is relatively thin, which is why Bridge has described it as a promising location, but that does not establish that the company has solved the transmission problem.
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A 2024 ultrasound BCI demonstration by researchers at Caltech and USC required part of the skull to be removed and replaced with an acoustic window, according to WIRED. That work shows an ultrasound-based approach is possible under those conditions; it does not demonstrate that Bridge’s proposed non-invasive wearable works through an intact skull.
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What Bridge’s first study involves
WIRED reported that Bridge is beginning an observational volunteer study in Redwood City. The company’s official site also lists its first research study as enrolling there. The study is not described as a treatment or diagnostic trial.
In the reported study, a small probe is placed at the side of the head while volunteers listen, watch, move, and speak. Participants include healthy adults and people who have undergone skull surgery. Bridge’s probes use semiconductor silicon chips made by Butterfly Network, according to WIRED. The study’s existence and recruitment do not establish clinical efficacy or confirm that the planned consumer-style device can work as intended.
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How Bridge and Merge Labs are connected—and different
WIRED describes Bridge as a competitor to Merge Labs in the effort to build an ultrasound-powered BCI. The companies also have overlapping institutional roots: Bridge founder Will Biederman and researchers Sumner Norman and Tyson Aflalo founded Forest Neurotech, later renamed Arbor Neuroscience. WIRED reported that Merge Labs spun out of Forest Neurotech in January. Norman and Aflalo are among Merge’s cofounders, alongside Sam Altman, Mikhail Shapiro, Alex Blania, and Sandro Herbig.
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| Comparison | Bridge Neurotech | Merge Labs |
|---|---|---|
| Connection to Forest/Arbor Neurotech | Founded by Will Biederman, Sumner Norman, and Tyson Aflalo, according to WIRED. | Reported by WIRED to have spun out of Forest Neurotech; Norman and Aflalo are cofounders. |
| Stated direction | Developing a wearable, non-invasive ultrasound BCI. | WIRED frames it as pursuing an ultrasound-powered BCI; equivalent product specifications are not stated. |
| Form factor and availability | Biederman described a planned form close to headphones. No finished device has been announced as available to buy. | Not stated in the cited report. |
| Study status | First study reported as observational and enrolling in Redwood City. | Not stated in the cited report. |
| Comparable performance or outcomes | Not stated; no head-to-head result is reported. | Not stated; no head-to-head result is reported. |
The available reporting therefore supports describing the firms as pursuing related ideas with shared roots, not as having completed a direct product contest. It does not supply matching specifications or study outcomes that would support ranking their approaches.
What is known about the launch
WIRED reported on October 6, 2026, that Bridge launched with $13.5 million in funding, including support from General Catalyst. That is a reported launch-funding figure, not evidence of device readiness or performance. The company is at a research and development stage, and its study recruitment, plans, and product status may change.
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