Elon Musk announced that his human tech startup Neuralink has inserted a chip implant into the brain of its first human test subject.
The billionaire said the person had the chip surgically implanted into their brain on Sunday and “is recovering well”
“Initial results show promising neuron spike detection,” Musk wrote on X, the social media he owns.
The US Food and Drug Administration last 12 months greenlit human trials of the corporate’s brain chips after Neuralink performed tons of of tests on pigs, sheep and monkeys — and was called out for animal abuse by animal rights groups in the method.
“The last two years have been all about give attention to constructing a human-ready product,” Neuralink co-founder DJ Search engine optimization told Bloomberg News in November. “It’s time to assist an actual human being.”
The brain chip — which has 1,000 electrodes — is supposed to permit people to wirelessly perform computer functions by just considering of what they’d wish to do via a “think-and-click” mechanism.
Last month the corporate said it was searching for quadriplegics under 40 years old to take part in the human trials. It also said a surgeon would remove part of the test patient’s skull before a 7-foot-tall robot named R1 would take over to implant 64 threads lined with electrodes into their brain.
The electrodes are programmed to assemble data in regards to the brain, including neural activity attached to movement intention. These neural signals recorded by the electrodes would then be sent back to Neuralink computers for decoding.
“The short-term goal of the corporate is to construct a generalized brain interface and restore autonomy to those with debilitating neurological conditions and unmet medical needs,” Search engine optimization, who also holds the title of vp for engineering, told Bloomberg.
“Then, really, the long-term goal is to have this available for billions of people and unlock human potential and transcend our biological capabilities.”
It’s unclear what number of human participants will probably be a component of the technology trial — which can assess the protection of each the robot surgeon and the chip itself in addition to its functionality.
The trial will take about six years to finish.