TIME100 AI 2026 · Innovators
Hon Weng Chong
Founder and CEO, Cortical Labs
A medical doctor by background, he founded Cortical Labs, which grows neurons on silicon; its CL1 is the first biological computer available outside a research lab.
- Born
- Not published
- Now
- Founder and CEO, Cortical Labs
- Studied
- University of Melbourne
Interesting facts
- Early start
Worked as a Linux developer for his own high school, Melbourne Grammar, from 2003 to 2005.
linkedin.com - First
Coined the term synthetic biological intelligence to describe what Cortical Labs' lab-grown neurons do.
thoughteconomics.com - Turning point
Founded Cortical Labs in 2019 after reading a paper by Demis Hassabis urging AI researchers to go back to neuroscience.
thoughteconomics.com - Numbers
Says the CL1, which joins lab-grown neurons with silicon hardware, uses about 30 watts, versus thousands of watts for a GPU.
thoughteconomics.com - Turning point
Announced in August 2026 that he had resigned from Cortical Labs after seven years.
linkedin.com
Career
- Cortical LabsFounder and CEO2019–2026
- Murdoch Childrens Research InstituteResearch Fellow2017–2018
- CliniCloudCo-founder and CTO2014–2018
- Peninsula HealthDoctor2013–2014
- StethoCloudFounder2012–2013
- AppBryonic LabsFounder2011
Education
- MBBS/BMedSci, Medicine, University of Melbourne, 2012