Elon Musk said the first patient who implanted a Neuralink chip into their brain now has the ability to control a computer mouse just by thinking, CNBC reported Feb. 20.
“[The] patient seems to have made a full recovery with no ill effects that we are aware of and is able to control the mouse, move the mouse around the screen just by thinking,” Mr. Musk said during a live audio Spaces session on social media platform X.
Neuralink, Mr. Musk’s neurotechnology company, implanted the chip into the first patient in January. Neuralink did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
The company was founded in 2017 and aims to use a chip implanted in the brain to help humans use their neural signals to control external technologies.
Musk said last month that the company had completed its first implantation surgery on a human test subject, after having received approval last year to study the safety and functionality of its chip implant and surgical tools on humans.
However, Musk has offered few details and no evidence about the outcome of the operation, so it’s not yet clear how significant of a scientific advancement the implantation represents.
Neuralink did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ultimately, Neuralink’s ambition is to use implants to connect human brains to computers to help, for example, paralyzed people to control smartphones or computers, or blind people to regain sight. Like existing brain-machine interfaces, the company’s implant would collect electrical signals sent out by the brain and interpret them as actions.
Musk said last month that the company’s first product would be called Telepathy, adding that its initial users will be people 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,” he wrote.
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