TECH NEWS – According to Elon Musk, Neuralink has successfully implanted its first wireless brain chip in a human.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk has claimed that his company Neuralink has successfully implanted one of his wireless brain chips into a human. In a post published on X, i.e. his former Twitter account, he wrote that “promising” brain activity was detected after the procedure and the patient is “recovering well”.
The company aims to connect human brains to computers to help treat complex neurological conditions. Several rival companies have already implemented similar devices.
“For any company producing medical devices, the first test in humans is a significant milestone,” said Professor Anne Vanhoestenberghe of King’s College London.
“For the brain computer interface community, we must place this news in the context that whilst there are many companies working on exciting products, there are only a few other companies who have implanted their devices in humans, so Neuralink has joined a rather small group .”
However, he also noted the need for caution. Because “true success” can only be evaluated in the long term. “We know Elon Musk is very adept at generating publicity for his company,” she added.
Other companies making similar progress include the École Polytechnique Fédérale (EPFL) in Lausanne, Switzerland, which successfully enabled a paralyzed man to walk by thinking alone. This was achieved by implanting electronic implants into his brain and spine, which wirelessly transmit thoughts to his legs and feet. Details of the breakthrough were published in the journal Nature in May 2023.
Musk’s claims have not been independently verified. Neuralink also did not provide information about the procedure it described.
The company has been criticized before. Reuters reported in December 2022 that the company conducted experiments that killed around 1,500 animals, including sheep, monkeys and pigs.
In July 2023, the head of the US Department of Agriculture investigation into animal welfare issues said that the company had not been found to have violated animal testing rules.
Musk’s company received permission from the FDA in May 2023 to test the chip on humans. This gave the green light to start the six-year study, during which a robot will use 64 flexible fibres, thinner than a human hair, to surgically place them in the part of the brain that, according to Neuralink, controls the “intention to move”.
Elon Musk’s dream: Telepathy?!
In another post on X, Musk said Neuralink’s first product will be called Telepathy. The device would allow “control of your phone or computer, and through them almost any device, just by thinking.”
“Initial users will be those who have lost the use of their limbs,” he continued.
Referring to the late British scientist who suffered from sensorimotor disease, he added: “Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer. That is the goal.”
While Musk’s involvement raises Neuralink’s profile, some of its rivals go back two decades: Utah’s Blackrock Neurotech implanted the first of many brain-computer interfaces in 2004.
Precision Neuroscience, created by one of Neuralink’s co-founders, also aims to help people with paralysis. The implant he developed resembles a very thin piece of tape, which is located on the brain’s surface and can be implanted through a “cranial micro-slit”. According to the company, this is a much simpler procedure.
The existing tools have already brought results. In two separate recent American scientific studies, implants were used to monitor brain activity when a person tries to speak. This could then be decoded to aid communication.
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