The company Neuralink, founded by Elon Musk in 2016, has implanted a wireless chip into the brain of a person for the first time. The test is going promising.
The Neuralink chip is about the size of a coin and charges wirelessly. (Source: Neuralink)
After tests on pigs and monkeys, Neuralink reports the successful implantation of a brain chip into a human. On the short message platform X, Elon Musk reported that the operation took place on Sunday and that the patient was recovering well. The person’s name, age and gender were not disclosed.
The first tests were now encouraging; Neuron peaks, i.e. activity in the brain, are already reliably detected, says Musk. In another X post, Musk also shared the name of the first Neuralink product: Telepathy.
Controlling technical devices with the help of thoughts
The name already suggests where the Tesla founder wants to go with Neuralink. With the help of the computer chip in the brain, people should be able to control smartphones or computers using their thoughts alone. This primarily benefits sick people. “Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a stenographer or an auctioneer – that’s our goal,” wrote Musk on X. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave Neuralink approval for such implants in 2023.
According to Musk, Parkinson’s or ALS patients are also eligible as Neuralink customers and can hope for an easier life despite paralysis. The “N1 implant” developed by Neuralink has approximately the diameter of a 2 euro coin. Since it has a battery, the device also needs to be charged. This is done using a wireless charger. The Australian company Synchron is also working on comparable brain chips.
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