The first human THOUGHT IMPLANT
Elon Musk reveals surgical robot has fitted patient with Telepathy device
ELON Musk says his brain chip firm Neuralink has successfully implanted a device into a human for the first time and the unidentified patient is “recovering well”.
Neuralink’s Telepathy implant aims to give people with paralysis the ability to control devices such as smartphones by their thoughts.
It is being trialled to test the interface, and the surgical robot used to implant it.
The company says threads on its implant are so fine they cannot be inserted by the human hand so a Neuralink surgical robot must carry out the procedure.
Musk, the world’s richest person with an estimated fortune of €193billion, posted: “The first human received an implant from Neuralink yesterday and is recovering well. Initial results show promising neuron spike detection.”
Revealing that the brain chip company’s first product was called Telepathy, he posted: “It 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.”
Last year, Neuralink was granted clearance in the US for its first trial to test its chips in humans. The implant marks a significant step for Neuralink, which has faced regulatory hurdles in the US due to safety fears.
Musk has been credited with reinvigorating interest in the decades-old field, known as braincomputer interface. Neuralink says its ambition is to create a technology to “restore autonomy to those with unmet medical needs today and unlock human potential tomorrow”.
Musk sees Neuralink as a means to safeguard humanity against the threat of advanced AI, letting humans merge with AI and not be surpassed by it. But he has been accused of “playing God”.