Topline
Elon Musk’s Neuralink—the company which promises to enable a direct interface between the human brain and computers—plans to begin human trials of its implantable brain chip, the billionaire said during a live-streamed event demonstrating the technology Wednesday. Here’s what it’s all about:
Co-founder Elon Musk on Wednesday said he expects Neuralink to begin its first human trials in six … [+]
Key Facts
Musk, who co-founded the company, said Neuralink has sought approval from the Food and Drug Administration to begin human clinical trials for the device and said the company expects it will be able to plant its first brain chip in a human in six months.
Here’s how it works: Neuralink’s brain-computer interface uses thousands of small electrodes embedded in the brain to read signals emitted by neurons and transmit them to a computer.
Musk claimed one of the first real-world applications for Neuralink’s chip could be to restore vision in people who have lost their sight or even restore motor function in people suffering from paralysis, although this wasn’t shown off in any of the demonstrations.
The billionaire and world’s richest person also said he believes one of the early uses of this technology could allow a paralyzed person to interface with a computer by being able to type and move a mouse cursor with their brain signals.
The company demonstrated a surgical robot that it claims is capable of safely implanting Neuralink’s chip onto a human by precisely inserting electrode threads into a person’s brain while avoiding critical blood vessels.
The company’s current implantable chip is around the size of a quarter and Musk claimed it has the same thickness as the piece of skull that needs to be removed to implant it, making it completely unobtrusive—unlike other similar devices which have visible wires and tend to be larger.
Tangent
Like with its previous “show and tell” presentations, Wednesday’s event was primarily intended to be a recruitment effort for the company, with Musk saying he is hiring for several different roles as it progresses from “prototype to product.” In an effort to get people on board, Musk said potential employees don’t need to know about biology and how the brain works to join Neuralink because “when you break down the skills that are needed to make Neuralink work, it’s actually many of the same skills that are required to make a smartwatch or modern phone work.”
Key Background
Musk is one of the co-founders of Neuralink, which was formed in 2016 and has since then raised $373 million in funding. Musk has stated several times that his ultimate goal with Neuralink is to create an embeddable device that allows human intelligence to directly interface and eventually merge with artificial intelligence. If Neuralink managed to achieve Musk’s ambitious goal of embedding its device onto a human brain in six months it still won’t be the first company to do so. Last year, Synchron implanted a brain-computer interface in a human being for the first time in the U.S. after having received FDA approval. In October, another company working on brain-computer interfaces, Axoft, raised $8 million to build a device made from soft, flexible materials.
Contra
Despite Musk’s ambitious claims, some experts remain skeptical about Neuralink’s progress and safety. Some pointed out that the technology didn’t appear to have made significant progress over what has been previously shown off by the company itself. Speaking to Semafor, David Putrino, the director of rehabilitation at the Mt. Sinai Health System, said: “No one cares about your science experiment if you are not ultimately creating a technology that is demonstrably helping patients.” Dr. Cristin Welle, a neuroscience professor who helped draft the FDA’s guidance on brain-computer implants, told the New York Times that regulators will need to determine if the Neuralink device poses any risk to patients. This would include any potential for the device to cause damage to the brain and the device’s durability.
Further Reading
All the Actually Important Stuff Neuralink Just Announced (Wired)
Elon Musk Hopes to Test a Brain Implant in Humans Next Year (New York Times)
Elon Musk Sees His Neuralink Merging Your Brain With A.I. (Forbes)
Move Over, Elon: This Under 30 CEO Just Raised $8 Million To Build A Next-Generation Brain Implant (Forbes)
