The subject received a brain implant yesterday and his recovery is going well, says Musk in the X message service.
Billionaire Elon Musk says that his company Neuralink has implanted a brain chip in the first test subject. The person received the implant yesterday and his recovery is going well, says Musk. He describes the preliminary results in the X service as promising.
The goal of the neurotechnology company is to build direct message connections between the human brain and computers, and possibly even help in the treatment of neurological diseases such as ALS or Parkinson’s.
The company said last year that it had received permission from the US authorities to test its surgically implantable brain chips on humans.
Last fall, Neuralink said it was looking for subjects for its tests in human trials in the United States. For the tests, e.g. people who are quadriplegic due to damage to the spinal cord.
The company’s technology mainly works through an implant called Link. The device is roughly the size of five coins stacked on top of each other. It is surgically installed in the human brain.
Musk isn’t the only one
Neuralink is by no means the only company operating in the so-called brain interface (BCI) field. Brain interfaces aim to bring computers and human brains closer together.
According to the news agency AFP, at one point, due to delays, Musk had also contacted Synchron, which also develops implants, about cooperation in the form of a possible investment.
Unlike Musk’s Link chip, Synchron’s implant does not require cutting into the skull to install it.
News channel CNBC’s according to Synchron’s chip is implanted in a person through blood vessels. Synchron’s goal is that with the help of the company’s implant, people whose mobility is limited for one reason or another would be able to control, for example, smart devices with pleasure.
The Australian company was the first
According to the technology news website Engadget, the Australian company Synchron was the first company in the United States to implant a BCI device in a person.
The planting was done in 2022, when Synchron said Engadget’s according to the operation went very well. The person who received the implant was able to return home 48 hours after the operation.
By February 2023, according to the CNBC channel, the company’s implants had been installed in a few people in both the United States and Australia.
According to CNBC, Synchron’s operations have been financed by e.g. one of the founders of the software company Microsoft Bill Gates and the founder of e-commerce giant Amazon By Jeff Bezos investment companies.