Elon Musk pledges to wear Neuralink implant in next demo of human trials in six months

Elon Musk’s brain-computer interface company Neuralink is just six months away from human trials, said the billionaire during the company event on Wednesday. Neuralink is Musk’s brainchild which would insert coin-sized chips inside the brains of humans so they could interact with computers, access the internet, and as the company claims, could help people with paralysis and invent new technologies. 

Claiming that Neuralink is ready for humans, Musk said that all that is left now is getting approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). "We are now confident that the Neuralink device is ready for humans, so timing is a function of working through the FDA approval process," Musk tweeted. He also said that the brain chips would be indetectable and pledged to get an implant before showing up to the next demonstration event. 

This new timeline, however, must be taken with a pinch of salt, because Musk is known for making bold predictions but failing to meet the schedule. In the case of Neuralink, for instance, he said that the human trials would first begin in 2020, which slipped to 2022 and now no earlier than 2023. The Neuralink device contains a small and flexible neural thread that contains many electrodes for detecting neural signals and these threads are embedded into the brain. During the demonstration event, Musk even said that the Neuralink could help restore vision in those who were born blind and help the paralysed walk again.

(Neuralink device; Image: Neuralink)

"We believe this technology has the potential to treat a wide range of neurological disorders, to restore sensory and motor function, and eventually to expand how we interact with each other and experience the world around us," Neuralink says. 

Controversies around Neuralink

While the company intends to revolutionise the way we interact with computers, Neuralink has had its fair share of roadblocks during animal trials. In February this year, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine filed a complaint to the US Department of Agriculture claiming that 15 of 23 monkeys who were test subjects for Neuralink died a painful death during the trials. The Committee accused Musk's company of being negligent toward the care of monkeys who died owing to many side effects and infections caused by the holes drilled in their skull. 

Neuralink later admitted the deaths of the subjects but rejected the allegations of animal cruelty toward them. The company first revealed monkeys to be its test subjects when it posted a video of Pager, a nine-year-old macaque playing ping-pong with his mind.