Altman taps leading researcher for BCI startup

Merge Labs is likely taking a less invasive approach than Neuralink. Also: Sources IRL and reactions to yesterday's Snap scoop.

Sam Altman onstage during Tools for Humanity’s World event in April.

Sam Altman has tapped Mikhail Shapiro, an award-winning biomolecular engineer, to join the Merge Labs brain-computer interface startup he’s set to announce soon with co-founder Alex Blania.

While Shapiro’s official title is unclear, sources say he will be part of Merge’s founding team an…