Elon Musk’s brain chip startup Neuralink has already completed its “first product” – called Telepathy – after successfully inserting an implant into its first human subject.
The program “allows you to control your phone, your computer, and almost any device through them, just by thinking about it,” Musk said Monday night.
“The first users will be people who have lost limbs.” Mr. Musk wrote about X. “Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or an auctioneer. That’s the goal.”
Musk revealed that Neuralink’s first human test subject received a brain chip implant on Sunday and is “recovering well.”
Details about the patient were not disclosed, but Musk said, “Early results show promise in detecting neuronal spikes.”
The mask was also teased Another possible feature of the brain chip, called blindsight, could help restore vision by responding to a video posted by another user on X.
Last May, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared Neuralink to conduct its first-ever clinical trial.
At the time, Musk’s startup described the agency’s decision as “an important first step that will allow our technology to one day help many people.”
Musk has long touted the potential benefits of experimental brain chips, from improving cognitive function to helping people with disabilities, such as those with vision loss or paralysis.
Neuralink, which was valued at a whopping $5 billion last June, teased the “telepathic” potential of its brain chips when it released a video of a monkey test subject in 2021. I’m playing the video game “Pong” in my head.
The company has come under intense scrutiny from animal rights activists for allegedly inhumanely treating monkeys and pigs as human subjects, with one group claiming the monkeys experienced “extreme suffering”.
Musk and Neuralink deny any wrongdoing.
Separately, a group of U.S. Democratic lawmakers last fall asked the SEC to investigate whether Musk had made misleading statements about the device’s safety.
Despite the criticism, outspoken executives have long maintained that brain chips are safe.
In December 2022, Musk said he would be “comfortable” implanting one of the chips in his child’s brain.
He also indicated that he intends to receive his own brain chip at some point in the future.
