The Cortical Labs CL1 is a self-contained biological computer in which real human neurons are cultivated across a custom silicon chip that both stimulates and records from the neural structure. Its biOS operating system runs a simulated setting around the cells and feeds information to them directly, so a developer can deploy code straight to living neurons and observe how the network learns. The closed-loop system keeps the neurons alive for up to six months with internal life support.

The company positions the CL1 as a low-power alternative to conventional AI hardware, arguing that biological neural networks need minimal energy and far smaller training sets. Buyers named on the product page are medical and research laboratories that want to test how real neurons process information, including as an alternative to animal testing, and teams studying brain function and compound effects on cognition.