The first person to receive a Neuralink brain implant has apparently recovered and can now control a computer mouse using their thoughts, according to Elon Musk, the company’s cofounder.
“Progress is good and the patient seems to have made a full recovery, with no ill effects that we are aware of,” Musk said on February 19 in a Spaces audio conversation on X, in response to a question about the participant’s condition. “[The] patient is able to move a mouse around the screen just by thinking.”
The neuroscience firm, based in Fremont, California, has been tight-lipped about the testing and development of its brain implant, with updates coming from brief social media posts by the company or Musk himself. Making bold claims in fewer than 280 characters is Musk’s usual style, but some scientists WIRED spoke with say the billionaire could stand to be more transparent about his brain implant venture.
Last May, Neuralink posted that it received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to launch the study, and in September, the company said it would begin recruiting paralyzed participants to test the device, which it has dubbed Telepathy. Last month, Musk posted that an initial human subject had received the implant and that “initial results show promising neuron spike detection.”
Neuralink is developing a brain-computer interface, or BCI, which provides a direct connection from the brain to an outside device. BCIs record and analyze brain signals, then translate them into output commands carried out by that device. Musk sees BCIs as a way to eventually merge humans with AI, but for now, Neuralink aims to enable people with paralysis to control a computer cursor or keyboard using their thoughts alone.
Paul Nuyujukian, an assistant professor of bioengineering at Stanford University who develops BCIs, says implants like Neuralink’s that are placed in the brain tissue can pick up signals quickly, so it’s “fully reasonable” that Neuralink’s device can already allow a person to move a computer cursor just a few weeks after surgery.
“In our studies, we have successfully had cursor control in the first couple of attempts after implantation, so it’s not outside the realm of reality,” Nuyujukian says.
Academic researchers have been testing BCIs for decades—in animals and in people—so Neuralink’s first human implant isn’t a first in that regard. But Neuralink brings a few key improvements to the table. Its system is fully implantable and wireless with a rechargeable battery, in line the idea that patients will be able to use these devices seamlessly in their daily lives. Many demonstrations of BCIs in academic labs have been with wired setups that use a cable running from the patient’s head to a computer or other external device.
Neuralink’s implant also records from far more individual neurons than previously possible, using 1,024 electrodes distributed across 64 threads, each thinner than a human hair, that sit in the brain’s delicate tissue. Nuyujukian says that’s important for a high-performance BCI.