If OpenAI or DeepMind makes such claim I'd pay attention. Otherwise it's always some (usually hw) guys trying to get a grant, or even just publish a paper.
p.s. People interested in biologically inspired data processing algorithms should look at Numenta's papers (earlier ones, because recently they switched to regular deep learning), and especially learn their justification for not using spikes.
p.s. People interested in biologically inspired data processing algorithms should look at Numenta's papers (earlier ones, because recently they switched to regular deep learning), and especially learn their justification for not using spikes.