Musk Neuralink Implants First Brain Chip in Human

Elon Musk has announced his brain implant startup, Neuralink, has successfully completed the first chip implant into a human brain. 

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Musk said the patient was recovering well.

“Initial results show promising neuron spike detection,” he wrote.

He also noted in a separate post that Neuralink’s first product would be called Telepathy.

“Enables control of your phone or computer, and through them almost any device, just by thinking,” Musk wrote. “Initial users will be those who have lost the use of their limbs. 

“Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer. That is the goal.”

While no further details have been disclosed, the announcement marks a significant step in the company’s efforts to bring its technology to the real world. 

Neuralink received FDA approval to begin human trials last May and began recruiting patients for its clinical trial in September.  

Patients with paralysis were invited to apply to participate in the trial in which the chip, designed to connect users to a computer and allow them to control it with just their thoughts, would be robotically implanted into their brain. 

The PRIME Study (short for Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface) used a robot to surgically implant a brain-computer interface (BCI) chip in the brain, targeting the area that controls movement to allow paralysis patients to “control external devices with their thoughts,” according to Neuralink. 

Related:Musk Neuralink Recruits Patients for Clinical Trial

“Once in place, the N1 Implant is cosmetically invisible and is intended to record and transmit brain signals wirelessly to an app that decodes movement intention,” the company said. “The initial goal of our BCI is to grant people the ability to control a computer cursor or keyboard using their thoughts alone.”

Neuralink has faced scrutiny for its technology in the past. A 2022 report detailed unnecessary animal deaths leading to a federal investigation into the company’s methods. Musk has maintained no animals were harmed, writing in September “no monkey has died as a result of a Neuralink implant.”