A growing number of biologists are moving beyond artificial intelligence to work directly with "brain organoids" – lab-grown clumps of human neurons cultivated from cells such as skin samples. These living tissues, which can produce brain-wave-like oscillations, are being used for far more than traditional drug and toxin testing: researchers are having them guide robots through mazes, exposing them to psychedelics, building biocomputing systems from them, and even letting them play video games. The trend reflects a bet that future forms of intelligent computing may be grown from living neurons rather than built from silicon and code.

At the University of California San Diego, developmental biologist Alysson Muotri's lab is a hub for this research, producing organoids by the tens of thousands and pushing the field's boundaries – including creating "Neanderthalised" organoids using ancient hominin genetic material and sending organoid samples to the International Space Station to study cosmic radiation's effects on the brain. Elsewhere, Johns Hopkins researchers are developing organoid-based biocomputing, while a Melbourne startup has taught organoids to play games like Pong and Doom. The article frames this as part of a broader "organoid intelligence" movement, positioning living neural tissue as a genuine alternative frontier to conventional AI.