Elon Musk Says First Human Received Neuralink Implant

Elon Musk, co-founder of Neuralink, said the first person received an implant from the brain chip startup.

The billionaire and owner of X/Twitter made the announcement on his social media platform on Monday night. “First person received an implant from @Neuralink yesterday and is recovering well,” he tweeted, adding, “Initial results show promising neuron spike detection.”

After years of delays, Neuralink was announced In May of last year, the FDA approved the start of a “first-in-human clinical study.” The company had developed a brain-computer interface (BCI) that is implanted in the skull by one surgical robot and uses electrodes to process the electrical activity of neurons — transmitting those signals to another device, such as a computer. Motor impairments and spinal cord injuries have been the focus of the startup's early explorations, as this technology can enable paralyzed people to move ends the prosthetics and write text messages with thoughts alone.

In September last year, Neuralink said it was recruiting patients with tetraplegia due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) for the trial, which it called “PRIMARY” study. “The original goal of our BCI is to give people the ability to control a cursor or computer keyboard using only their thoughts,” the company said in a suspension.

Musk, who has invested $100 million of his own money into the venture, he has made sweeping claims about the potential of his company's implant. Except stating that it will “allow someone with paralysis to use a smartphone with their mind faster than someone using their thumbs” and “paraplegics to walk again”, has speculated that it could eventually cure blindness, schizophrenia, depression, autism, obesity and insomnia. and one day brought together human consciousness with artificial intelligence.

The medical device company was hit by a federal investigation into possible animal abuse in its effort to develop its implant for humans, according to a 2022 report from Reuters. In February of that year, reports emerged that more than a dozen primates died or were euthanized as a result of Neuralink research. According to sources and records reviewed by the outlet, the total number of animals killed during the startup's research since 2018 was likely around 1,500, including around 280 pigs, sheep and primates. While animal testing remains a standard practice in the medical field, sources with knowledge of Neuralink's inner workings told Reuters that the co-founder's pressure to speed development led to flawed experiments and increased the number of animal deaths beyond what was necessary. how much.

Earlier this month, Reuters mentionted that the startup was fined for violating US Department of Transportation (DoT) rules on the handling of hazardous materials.

Neuralink was worth about $5 billion last June, based on private equity transactions. In November four MPs the US Securities and Exchange Commission asked to investigate whether Musk had committed securities fraud by allegedly misleading investors about the safety of the company's technology, after veterinary records showed monkeys used in the experiments suffered health problems including paralysis, seizures and brain swelling.