Key Takeaways
- • Sabi raised a $50 million seed round led by Khosla Ventures to develop a non-invasive brain-AI interface built into an ordinary baseball cap, according to a GlobeNewswire release dated October 9, 2026.
- • Accel, Initialized Capital, former OpenAI Chief Product Officer Kevin Weil, DST Global, Collaborative Fund and Ascend also participated in the round.
- • The cap uses sensors that read neural signals through hair without gel, surgery or scalp contact, powered by a custom EEG chip the company says is more than 50 times as power-efficient as the Texas Instruments ADS1299 in internal benchmarks.
- • Sabi's Brain Foundation Model is trained on more than 100,000 hours of labeled non-invasive recordings, which the company believes is the largest disclosed dataset of its kind.
- • An early prototype is scheduled to debut at CES 2027 in Las Vegas, with imagined speech-to-text, thought-to-prompt and intent-prediction features.
Summary
Sabi announced on October 9, 2026 that it has raised a $50 million seed round led by Khosla Ventures to develop a brain-AI interface designed for everyday wear, according to a GlobeNewswire release. Accel, Initialized Capital, former OpenAI Chief Product Officer Kevin Weil, DST Global, Collaborative Fund and Ascend also participated. The company's first product is a baseball cap with hidden sensors that read neural signals through hair, without gel, surgery or direct scalp contact. Sabi positions the device as an alternative to clinical brain-computer interfaces, which have largely been designed for clinical settings and cursor control, and to implantable systems that require surgery.
The cap's sensors measure between one and five millimeters and are built around a custom EEG chip. The sensors are designed to capture signals across a gap of up to five millimeters through hair. Sabi reports that in internal benchmarks the chip is more than 50 times as power-efficient as the Texas Instruments ADS1299, a widely used EEG analog front end, which the company says allows the electronics to fit inside ordinary headwear while limiting heat and electrical noise. Neural signals are processed by the company's Brain Foundation Model, trained on more than 100,000 hours of labeled non-invasive recordings collected while participants imagined words and performed mental tasks.
Sabi is developing three primary interaction modes: imagined speech to text, thought-to-prompt commands for an AI assistant, and intent prediction that anticipates likely keystrokes or on-screen actions for the user to confirm. The cap connects wirelessly to a phone or computer. The company says neural data is encrypted from the sensor onward and that its inference is designed to run while data remains encrypted, so servers never receive unencrypted neural signals. Sabi is also building user controls over recording timing, permitted applications and confirmation requirements for actions.
Sabi was co-founded by CEO Rahul Chhabra and CTO Atmadeep Banerjee, who is co-first author of the MindEye paper presented at NeurIPS 2023. The company says its team includes hardware, machine-learning and design leaders from Kernel, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Adobe and Nike, along with neuroscientists from Stanford. Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures, said in the release that "every computing era is defined by its interface." The funding will be used to expand the neural dataset, complete the custom chip, manufacture early devices and grow the neuroscience, hardware and machine-learning teams. An early prototype will debut at CES 2027, and the company is preparing units for its early-access waitlist.
The cap's sensors measure between one and five millimeters and are built around a custom EEG chip. The sensors are designed to capture signals across a gap of up to five millimeters through hair. Sabi reports that in internal benchmarks the chip is more than 50 times as power-efficient as the Texas Instruments ADS1299, a widely used EEG analog front end, which the company says allows the electronics to fit inside ordinary headwear while limiting heat and electrical noise. Neural signals are processed by the company's Brain Foundation Model, trained on more than 100,000 hours of labeled non-invasive recordings collected while participants imagined words and performed mental tasks.
Sabi is developing three primary interaction modes: imagined speech to text, thought-to-prompt commands for an AI assistant, and intent prediction that anticipates likely keystrokes or on-screen actions for the user to confirm. The cap connects wirelessly to a phone or computer. The company says neural data is encrypted from the sensor onward and that its inference is designed to run while data remains encrypted, so servers never receive unencrypted neural signals. Sabi is also building user controls over recording timing, permitted applications and confirmation requirements for actions.
Sabi was co-founded by CEO Rahul Chhabra and CTO Atmadeep Banerjee, who is co-first author of the MindEye paper presented at NeurIPS 2023. The company says its team includes hardware, machine-learning and design leaders from Kernel, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Adobe and Nike, along with neuroscientists from Stanford. Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures, said in the release that "every computing era is defined by its interface." The funding will be used to expand the neural dataset, complete the custom chip, manufacture early devices and grow the neuroscience, hardware and machine-learning teams. An early prototype will debut at CES 2027, and the company is preparing units for its early-access waitlist.
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