After years of experiments, the brain chip developed by billionaire Elon Musk’s startup Neuralink has been implanted in the human brain for the first time. In a post shared on X, Elon Musk announced that the brain-chip was implanted in the patient and that he is recovering. Neuralink is a neurotechnology company founded by the Tesla boss in 2016 with the aim of establishing direct lines of communication between the human brain and computers.
The first brain implant from Neuralink is called ‘Telepathy’. According to Musk, the aim is to help people who are paralyzed due to paralysis or something else to use their thoughts to operate smartphones and computers. Neuralink has many goals in the future through this project, but currently efforts are being made to help the physically challenged and visually impaired.
Neuralink has long been testing the implant’s safety and effectiveness in helping people control a computer cursor or keyboard with their thoughts. The implant is placed in the part of the brain that controls the movements of the human body through surgery with the help of a robot.
“Imagine Stephen Hawking being able to type faster than the fastest typist and communicate faster than the best auctioneer. That’s the goal.” – Elon Musk says in a tweet shared about the brain chip. Physicist Hawking was suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a fatal disease that paralyzes nerve cells. He passed away in 2018.
After Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking was the owner of the most intelligent brain the world has seen. He could only move his eyelashes and index fingers and his computer-aided book ‘A Brief History of Time, From Big Bang to Black Holes’ was sold worldwide. Elon Musk claims that his brain chip could easily record his thoughts without anyone else’s help.
Enables control of your phone or computer, and through them almost any device, just by thinking.
Initial users will be those who have lost the use of their limbs.
Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer. That is the goal.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 30, 2024
According to a Reuters report, the clinical trial for the brain implant included patients paralyzed by neck injuries or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Similarly, the chip may also benefit Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s patients in the future.