Neuralink has placed an implant in a human brain for the first time. Elon Musk reports that the subject is doing well. According to the CEO, the first results also show ‘promising neuron activity’.
Musk provided more explanation at X about Neuralink’s first product. This implant will be called Telepathy and will allow users to operate a smartphone or computer via the brain. Neuralink will first focus the implant on people who can no longer use their limbs. The company wants to enable them to communicate more smoothly with the outside world.
Neuralink is an American company founded in 2016 by Elon Musk. It announced in 2019 that it is working on flexible electrodes that can be implanted deep in the human brain, allowing communication between the brain and a computer. This technology should eventually be further developed to ultimately achieve a symbiosis with artificial intelligence.
In 2020, Neuralink demonstrated a brain implant installed in a pig’s brain. In May 2023, Neuralink received permission from the American health authority FDA to conduct tests with brain implants on humans. The company received a rejection from the same FDA in March of the same year, because a problem could arise with the built-in lithium battery.
A Neuralink implant. Source: Neuralink