Health
Elon Musk’s Neuralink is preparing to implant a second human patient
Topline
Elon Musk’s brain implant company Neuralink will one day give people “cybernetic superpowers” and allow them to control robots with their minds, the technology billionaire claimed Thursday, offering a futuristic and unrealistic prediction for the next years of the opaque company. steps after issuing a rare update and revealing plans to implant a second human patient within “the next week or so.”
Elon Musk said Neuralink is preparing to implant its second patient.
Key facts
“I think cybernetic superpowers are likely in the future,” Musk says said in an early morning post on
The billionaire’s statement concluded a series of tweets about Neuralink’s future directions, which he said included, among others treat epilepsy and completely curing paralysis, something from Musk said is a “difficult problem, but ultimately solvable.”
In the future, users will also be able to tap Neuralink’s device to control Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus, with their thoughts, Musk. claimedA device that the billionaire has previously said could go on sale as early as late next year and that he optimistically predicts will transform the electric car maker into a $25 trillion company.
The futuristic predictions came after Musk and Neuralink executives provided a rare update on the company’s progress and outlined future plans in a video live stream posted on X.
Musk revealed that Neuralink planned to surgically implant his experimental brain chip into a second human patient within “the next week or so,” despite having encountered hardware issues with their first patient, whose device partially detached from the brain. and said he hoped the number of participants testing the device would reach the “high single digits” by the end of the year.
Musk said Neuralink is also taking steps to reduce the risk of the implant withdrawing from the brain as it did in the first patient, including shaping the skull to better seat the device, inserting wires deeper into the brain and removing air bubbles left in the brain. skull after surgery, and is also developing an improved device that could potentially “double the bandwidth” offered by the current model.
How accurate are Elon Musk’s predictions?
Many of Musk’s predictions and updates are best treated with a healthy degree of skepticism. The billionaire is known for his hyperbolic and often wildly optimistic predictions about the future directions of humanity, technology and the companies he leads, and many of his past predictions have proven to be far off base. Timelines and more advanced applications of technologies still in their relative infancy – such as brain-computer interface implants, robotics and fully autonomous vehicles, or ‘robotaxis’ – have been particular sticking points for Musk in the past and in controlling a robotic arm with superhuman speed or mind grabbing Optimus is theoretically possible, this is still far in the future, especially if it is used for enhancement by a healthy individual, rather than as a medical treatment. Likewise, Musk’s belief that Neuralink will help humans merge with AI is possible, but far off in the future. Even for shorter-term applications, such as treating or curing paralysis, restoring sight to the blind – technologies that Neuralink plans to market as ‘Telepathy’ and ‘Blindsight’ – or treating other neurological conditions such as epilepsy , it’s important to remember Neuralink’s technology is still considered experimental and is only approved for use in closely controlled clinical trials. Even if all goes to plan for Neuralink’s testing, which is far from guaranteed, commercial rollout for even a limited use as a medical device will likely be years away. Experts told Forbes that the company’s lack of transparency adds to the difficulties in assessing how Neuralink’s technology develops and performs in the real world. Updates are often selective, limited in scope, and delivered sparingly via Musk’s livestreams and tweets.
What to pay attention to
Musk said Neuralink’s brain chip could be more efficient and powerful than the current model. It will double the number of wires inserted into the brain from 64 in the current device to 128, with each wire having half the number of electrodes on each of them, from 16 to 8, which should help increase efficiency if they are. well placed in the brain. Musk has not provided a timeline for when such a device will be ready for human testing or what Neuralink plans to do with it.
Crucial quote
“What’s surprising is that it works at all,” says Musk said of the human brain. Musk described the brain as a “biological computer” that “gets smaller over time as we age.”
Forbes rating
Musk is the richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $258.2 billion. Much of Musk’s fortune is tied to the companies he co-founded and leads, most notably car manufacturer Tesla, but also rocket firm SpaceX, tunnel construction company The Boring Co. and AI startup xAI. He also owns social media platform X, which he controversially acquired in 2022.
Receive text alerts from Forbes Breaking News: We’re launching text alerts so you’re always up to date on the top stories driving the day’s headlines. Text “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739 or Log In here.
Read further
​​
