Brain chip start-up Neuralink implanted a device in its first live human subject Sunday, Elon Musk, the company’s founder, said on social media. The patient “is recovering well,” Musk wrote Monday, adding that initial data from the device was promising. Placed in the part of the brain that plans movements, the device is designed to interpret a person’s neural activity, so they can control external devices such as a smartphone or computer with their thoughts, Neuralink’s website says. The device is currently in clinical trials, which are open to some individuals who have quadriplegia due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or a spinal cord injury, according to a recruitment pamphlet. Musk said Monday that the first Neuralink product will be called Telepathy and initially used by people who have lost the ability to use their limbs. “Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer,” he wrote. “That’s the goal.” The implant marks a significant step for Neuralink, which has faced regulatory hurdles due to safety concerns, and places it among several companies — including Blackrock Neurotech and Synchron — that have tested brain implants on humans. Musk, whose business empire includes Tesla, SpaceX and X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has been credited with reinvigorating interest in the decades-old field, known as brain-computer interface, and has hyped it up by suggesting it could be used to enhance human function more broadly.
Full story : Musk’s Neuralink implants brain chip in its first human subject.
