Researchers Upload Fly’s Brain to Matrix, Let It Control Virtual Body

Futurism.com ^ | 3/15/2026 | Victor Tangermann

[Callahan]

Artificial intelligence seeks to emulate the faculties of the human mind through computational systems, a synthetic recreation of our brains’ capabilities to perceive, learn, and reason.

Now, a company claims to have taken a totally different tack by simulating the 125,000 neurons and 50 million synaptic connections of an adult fruit fly’s brain — and then letting it roam inside a Matrix-like virtual environment.

In a video shared by Eon Systems cofounder Alex Weissner-Gross, the crudely animated insect can be seen stretching its legs inside a simulated sandbox, rubbing its front feet together and using its labellum to drink from a small bowl.

“For decades, whole-brain emulation has been the tantalizing counterpart to artificial intelligence,” Weissner-Gross wrote in a Substack post. “Copy a biological brain, neuron by neuron and synapse by synapse, and run it.”...

[Callahan]

Read this article then check out the one I posted earlier about human braincells grown on a microchip playing video games. "The Matrix" gets more real every day.

[ClearCase_guy]

"It was my idea."

[fidelis]

What could go wrong?

[Opinionated Blowhard]

This is the way about three dozen horror movies start.

[sopo]

stupid question, is the fly in the video virtual?

[mikey_hates_everything]

Maybe they could work on improvement while working on emulation.

[sopo]

ven stupider than I thought, since it’s in the headline.

[llevrok]

Had they uploaded a liberal’s brain (”Abby...Abby Something”), the transfer would not have been as successful as the fly’s

[Ronaldus Magnus III]

There is a great scene in the movie Transcendence where they explain the “success” of uploading a primate’s brain to a hard drive. When they accessed, turned on the uploaded primate, all it “did” was SCREAM.

Pretty much what every democRAT does each morning.

[BenLurkin]

[BenLurkin]

Fun episode.

[dfwgator]

[fidelis]

Good old Jan in the Pan.

[RandallFlagg]

Did it say that it wanted to be the world’s first, “Insect Politician?”

[rackatoot]

There’s hope for liberals?

[1FreeAmerican]

[telescope115]

I would have a fly swatter or some bug spray handy. Just in case.

I have one of those battery powered electrified swatters. It’s fun to watch them sizzle.

[Texas Eagle]

Immediately becomes the front runner for the ‘28 Democrat presidential nomination.

[PJ-Comix]

Do half of the fly neurons belong to Jeff Goldblum?

[NetAddicted]

A brain recreated on a chip ain’t a brain. It is simply programming.