Neuralink has never been this close to conducting its first human trials. At an event on Thursday, December 1, Elon Musk summed up the work of his company, which specializes in interfaces that connect the brain with computers. New promises are at stake: According to the billionaire, Neuralink could implant one of its devices in a human head within the next six months, which had previously only conducted animal testing.
As is customary with Elon Musk, these announcements should be treated with a grain of salt. The whimsical entrepreneur is used to risky predictions when it comes to his business. In July 2019, he set the horizon for his first human trials in 2020. The goal was subsequently pushed back to 2022. And now for 2023. The businessman had only to wait for the approval of the Food and Drug Administration, the police department of medical devices in the United States, to which Neuralink would send all the necessary documents.
How Neuralink works
Neuralink brain implants are artificial intelligence microchips that are inserted under the skin to establish a direct interface between the brain and the machine. These €2 coin-sized implants, containing microwires connected to electrodes, are designed to treat various neurological disorders such as paralysis, to allow people suffering from these pathologies to control devices with their minds. They could, for example, allow a paraplegic to walk again thanks to an exoskeleton, or write a text message without having to type it on their phone.
According to Neuralink, the robotic system developed by the company is capable of making about sixty brain connections in fifteen minutes. “It’s like replacing part of your brain with a connected watch,” Elon Musk summed up on Wednesday, saying he is ready to implant this device in his head or in the head of one of his children in the future.
So far, Neuralink’s connected brain implants have only been implanted in animal skulls. The latest experiment showed how a monkey plays video games with his mind. A few months earlier, the first autonomous and functional implant was placed in a pig’s brain. On Wednesday, Neuralink showed off a new video of monkeys telepathically typing sentences. Elon Musk also announced several new potential uses for his implants, such as restoring vision in the blind or mobility in paralyzed people.
Doubts about the “revolution” Neuralink
These announcements were again met with some skepticism by observers. In addition to the successive delays to the billionaire’s ambitious promises, serious doubts surround Neuralink’s ability to deliver its product. The company’s teams have yet to provide concrete scientific proof of their progress. Many scientists believe that Elon Musk is overestimating the achievements of Neuralink, which is also not the only player working in this direction of research. For example, Synchron announced in July that it had implemented the first brain-machine interface in the United States.
Launched in 2016, Neuralink has also faced significant controversy. The American edition of Fortune explained earlier in the year that many employees left the company due to competition, irritated by the frantic pace of work and problematic management. According to Bloomberg, Elon Musk would express his concern internally, urging his employees to “produce something useful” before “everyone dies.” Neuralink also has to contend with opposition from animal rights groups that accuse it of mistreating the monkeys or pigs at the heart of the company’s experiments. A federal complaint was filed earlier this year.
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