Why the Most Powerful Computer of 2026 Might Be Made of Living Cells, Not Microchips

While the world focuses on the power consumption of massive AI data centers, researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, are looking at a more efficient alternative: the human brain.

Mini brain organoids at the UTHealth Houston Brain Collection for Research in Psychiatric Disorders in Houston, Texas. Photo: Getty Images

Organoids, also known as lab grown organs, have been studied for over a century now. American biologist Henry Van Peters Wilson first demonstrated the ability for cells to self-organize for regeneration with a sea sponge in 1907. But recent developments have advanced the science, making brain cells a compelling option for hardware that can complete computational tasks.

These days, organoids are generally developed using stem cells, typically those extracted from a mouse, and they’ve provided the scientific and medical communities with a more ethical way to conduct research on organ functionality. 

The timing of such advancement is compelling too, especially as the world grapples with the power demands of traditional silicon-based data centers. Could a biological computer solve our processing predicament?

What is the cart-pole problem?

The brain is one of the body’s most complicated organs. Recently, scientists from the University of Santa Cruz were experimenting with a brain organoid and successfully trained it to solve one of engineering’s classic theories: the “cart-pole problem,” according to a post from Popular Mechanics.

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The “cart-pole problem” (or the “inverted pendulum”) is when a cart moves back and forth in order to balance a pole vertically—similar to when you can keep a pencil up-right in your palm by moving your hand side to side. Recently, this problem has been given to AI agents and robots to gauge their abilities. 

Researchers at UC Santa Cruz used trained segments of brain organoids to solve this benchmark problem. They taught the brain incrementally how it could improve its performance based on sent and received electrical signals. 

What did researchers discover about the brain’s neural circuit functions?

The researchers, led by Baskin School of Engineering Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Ph.D. student Ash Robbins, ECE Professor Mircea Teodorescu, and Distinguished Professor of Biomolecular Engineering David Haussler, demonstrated their findings in a paper published in the journal Cell Reports.

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