DARPA O-CIRCUIT (BTO, Mar 2026)
artifactDefense & Military-Industrial · Darknet & Cyber
The military is building computers out of living brain cells, including drones that navigate by smell using organic brains.
Who they are
DARPA O-CIRCUIT (Organoid Cytomorphic Intelligence), a program from March 2026.
What they do
It develops Biological Processing Units, computing chips made from living brain-like tissue, for extremely energy-efficient learning.
How it works
One task area embeds biological smell sensors into drone navigation so drones can steer by chemical scent (chemotaxis), running on living brain tissue, over a 42-month program at very low power (milliwatts per day).
Why it matters
It shows the defense establishment treats organoid (living-tissue) computing as deployable military hardware rather than basic biology research.
The engine's record — word for word
Organoid Cytomorphic Intelligence program. Biological Processing Units (BPUs) for energy-efficient edge learning at milliwatt/day range. Task Area 2: biological olfactory sensors embedded in drone navigation for biocompute-based chemotaxis. 42-month program. Defense establishment views organoid computing as deployable military hardware, not basic biology. Drones navigating by smell using living brains.
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