Called Telepathy, Neuralink’s first product will enable mind-machine connection via thoughts.
The co-founder took to X to announce the news. Though the company hasn’t officially announced anything yet, Musk said that the preliminary findings of the experiment indicate positive outcomes in detecting spikes in neuron activity.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.
Thousands of people had signed up for the human trial, which was announced in September last year.
In the context of brain-computer interfaces, detecting neuron spikes is crucial for understanding and interpreting brain signals. The term “promising” implies that the initial data or observations are encouraging and hold potential for further advancements.
If this is successful, it can hold transformative potential, particularly for individuals with paralysis, as it empowers them to harness the capabilities of their cognitive faculties for interaction with various technological devices, ranging from smartphones to computers.
But first, what is Neuralink anyway?
Neuralink and BCI’s
If things seem Black Mirror-esque, it’s because they are (hopefully in a good way). Taking a page straight out of the sci-fi book, Neuralink is devising technology to create a seamless connection between the human brain and our computers. More than an attempt to simplify scrolling through your social media pages, the current focus of such tech is to empower people suffering from paralysis and other forms of physical and cognitive decline.
Neuralink was founded in 2016 by Musk and a team of scientists and engineers. The company says its mission is to “create a generalized brain interface to restore autonomy to those with unmet medical needs,” according to its website.The company says its device can interpret neural activity so a person can operate a computer or smartphone by simply thinking.The implant marks a significant step for Neuralink, which has faced regulatory hurdles due to safety concerns.
Neuralink (and a bunch of other tech companies, for that matter) plan to do this via brain implants, wiring sections of the brain to physical circuits that pick up on signals that fire in our brain as we attempt certain tasks. Aside from the safety of brain implantation, one of the main problems is being able to accurately pick up on the neuron signals and coherently decode what they’re saying.
Once we know approximately what’s on our mind (literally), we can then relay these signals to other machinery that performs the task for us. As Musk puts it, “Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer. That is the goal.”
Neuralink represents a potential leap into a future where our thoughts become our controllers, essentially bidding adieu to clunky keyboards slowing down your brilliant ideas. Just think it, and your phone whips out your next tweet and your computer spits out a perfectly crafted email, all at the speed of your lightning-fast brain. That’s the dream Neuralink’s “Telepathy” chip is chasing. Musk explains that initial users of the next-gen tech will be people who have lost the use of their limbs.
How did the implantation go?
Neuralink was granted permission to test the implantation of the chip on humans by the United States’ Food and Drug Administration in May last year. This allowed Musk’s company to robotically insert 64 tiny threads, thinner than a hair, into the section of the brain that monitors “movement intention”. In an X post, Musk explained that the first test subject is recovering well, and initial readings are promising.
The experimental implant is the first step to the start of a six-year-long study to assess the viability of the product. The implant contains many parts, such as sensors to detect any spikes in brain activity and a battery that can be charged wirelessly (so no Matrix-esque connecting your neck to the mainframe, phew). The data collected will be sent to an app that will decode how the patient “intended” to move.
In another post, Musk announced the first Neuralink product called Telepathy. Although Telepathy is a concept associated with the ability to transmit thoughts from one person’s mind to another’s without verbal or written communication, Musk said the product would unleash the power of the mind to command phones, computers, and virtually any gadget. To learn more please visit https://x.com/neuralink/status/1727135227565547810?s=20
Telepathy would be first made available to individuals who, unfortunately, have lost the use of their limbs. Telepathy would offer them a newfound avenue to interact with the digital world.Approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the human trial, named ‘PRIME’ (Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface), focuses on individuals with quadriplegia due to spinal cord injuries or ALS.
Neuralink’s goal is to establish direct communication between the brain and computers using their N1 implant and R1 surgical robot. The study assesses safety, functionality, and the potential for paralyzed individuals to control external devices through thought.
The technology, primarily facilitated by the ‘Link’ implant, involves ultra-fine threads surgically placed in the brain to wirelessly transmit signals for decoding movement intention, aiming to empower users to control computers through their thoughts.
The Ethical monkey problem
The company has previously demonstrated the ability of the implant to stimulate movement in pigs and monkeys, even demonstrating a monkey with a brain chip playing a video game. The company has run into some issues with the ethics of conducting experiments on animals, many of whom died in gruesome deaths also.
Could thought privacy be under threat?
Of course, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows, and ethical concerns dance like shadows around this ground breaking tech. The long-term effects of brain implants are uncharted territory, and many wonder how the privacy of the individual’s brain data will be protected as such tech inevitably becomes more common. However, the potential remains undeniable. Imagine a world where quadriplegics can paint again, and creativity flows like a river directly from our neural networks.
How groundbreaking is Neuralink really?
While much of the notoriety of Musk’s company can be attributed to the controversy of the man himself, Neuralink is far from alone in this brain-computer arms race. Blackrock Neurotech has been pioneering BCI for decades now, and their tech has reportedly already helped patients grasp objects, move cursors, and even play video games using only their thoughts.
Another notable company includes Synchron, a brain implant startup backed by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. This company takes a minimally invasive approach with BCI devices inserted through a blood vessel into the brain. This eliminates the need for open-brain surgery, potentially making it more accessible for wider use.
Last year, Swiss researchers said they combined artificial intelligence and brain and spine implants to help a man paralyzed in a motorcycle accident walk again.
“I really do think that in my lifetime as a physician I’ll be able to use this type of technology to help my patients and I cannot wait for that day to come,” a neurologist said said after Musk’s announcement Tuesday.
In Walter Isaacson’s biography of Musk, the billionaire said: “Imagine if you could think into the machine like a high-speed connection directly between your mind and your machine. Then you could have true human-machine symbiosis.”Musk also thinks that Neuralink has a chance of protecting humans from artificial intelligence. “If we can find some good commercial uses to fund Neuralink,” he said in 2016, “then in a few decades we will get to our ultimate goal of protecting us against evil AI by tightly coupling the human world to our digital machinery.”
