(DailyAnswer.org) – Elon Musk has announced that a patient received a Neuralink chip implant on January 28th, 2024. Musk said that the patient is recovering well and that the neuron spike detection in the results was promising.
The purpose of Neuralink is to allow users to control technology with their minds, with long-term goals including restoring sight, motor function, and speech using the technology. Musk said that the first Neuralink product would be called “Telepathy.” There has been no independent verification of Musk’s claims about the implant’s success, nor has any information been provided by Neuralink regarding the nature of the procedure.
In the spring of 2023, regulators in the United States were still concerned about the safety risks and rejected Musk’s bid to test the chips on humans. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration explained that the reasons related to dozens of concerns that needed to be addressed properly by the company before approval. Significant concerns raised were the device’s lithium battery, the possibility of wires reaching other parts of the brain, and the difficulty of removing the device without damaging brain tissue. The company won FDA approval a few months later, in May 2023, proceeding to recruit people for the trial, which involved the BCI device being implanted by a robot. After Neuralink initially sought to use ten people in the trial, the final figure agreed upon with the FDA is unknown.
Experts also stressed that Musk’s plans for the implant raise concerns about surveillance and privacy and that the experimental nature of the brain surgery could result in brain hemorrhages or seizures. King’s College London Professor Anne Vanhoestenberghe said that the procedure was a significant achievement but also noted that a few companies have already used implants. She stated that as Musk is very good at generating publicity for Neuralink, the true success of the procedure could only be accurately determined in the long term. Musk predicted that Telepathy would allow users to control their computer, smartphone, or other devices using just their thoughts, saying that the goal was equivalent to allowing Stephen Hawking to communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer.
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