Tech entrepreneur and billionaire Elon Musk says his Neuralink company has successfully implanted one of its wireless brain chips in a human for the first time.
They tried it the first time and the results picked promising neuron spikes or nerve impulses. Elon said that the patient is recovering.
The company’s goal is to connect human brains to computers and it says it wants to help tackle complex neurological conditions.
Mr Musk’s company was permitted to test the chip on humans by the FDA in May, after earlier struggles to gain approval.
According to Neuralunk, this study has been going on for six years during which a robot is being used to surgically place 64 flexible threads, thinner than a human hair, onto a part of the brain that controls “movement intention.”
“[It] has great potential to help people with neurological disorders in the future and is an excellent example of how fundamental neuroscience research is being harnessed for medical advances,” said Professor Tara Spires-Jones, president of the British Neuroscience Association.
“However, most of these interfaces require invasive neurosurgery and are still in experimental stages thus it will likely be many years before they are commonly available.”
Posting on X, the social media platform he owns which was formerly known as Twitter, Mr Musk said Neuralink’s first product would be called Telepathy.
Telepathy, he said, would enable “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.
“Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer. That is the goal,” he added.
