The billionaire tech investor Elon Musk claims that his company Neuralink has successfully implanted a wireless brain chip in a human being for the first time.
According to him, the patient is making a full recovery after preliminary tests found encouraging neuron spikes or nerve impulses.
The company claims to want to assist in the treatment of complex neurological conditions and its goal is to link human brains to computers.
Comparable devices have already been implanted by several rival companies.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which oversees medical regulations, as well as Neuralink have been contacted by BBC News for comments.
After previous difficulties obtaining approval, Mr. Musk’s company achieved a significant milestone in May when the FDA allowed it to test the chip on humans.
This gave the green light for the start of the six-year study during which a robot is being used to surgically place 64 flexible threads, thinner than a human hair, on to a part of the brain that controls “movement intention”, according to Neuralink.
According to the company, these threads enable its experimental implant, which is powered by a wirelessly rechargeable battery, to record and transmit brain signals to an app that decodes the user’s intended movement.
Mr. Musk announced on X, the social media network he owns that was once known as Twitter, that Neuralink’s initial offering would be dubbed Telepathy.
He claimed that telepathy would allow “control over your computer or phone, and through them, nearly any device, just by
Mr. Musk announced on X, the social media network he owns that was once known as Twitter, that Neuralink’s initial offering would be dubbed Telepathy.
“Control of your phone or computer, and through them almost any device, just by thinking,” he claimed, would be possible with telepathy.
“Those who have lost the use of their limbs will be the initial users,” he said.
“Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer,” he continued, making reference to the late British scientist who suffered from motor neurone disease. That’s the objective.
Even though Mr. Musk’s involvement helps Neuralink become more well-known, he still has competitors, some of whom have a twenty-year history. In 2004, the Utah-based company Blackrock Neurotech implanted the first of several brain-computer interfaces.
One of Neuralink’s co-founders founded Precision Neuroscience with the same goal of aiding paralyzed individuals. Furthermore, the implant resembles a very thin piece of tape that rests on the brain’s surface. It claims that implanting it via a “cranial micro-slit” is a far simpler process.
Results have also been produced by current devices. Implants were used in two different recent US scientific studies to track brain activity during speech attempts, which could subsequently be decoded to facilitate communication.