By David Ingram—
NBC News
Tech billionaire Elon Musk said Monday that his brain science startup Neuralink implanted a device in a human for the first time, a possible step toward a product that Musk said would allow people to control almost any device. external “just by thinking about it.”
Musk made the announcement on social media site X. He said the patient, whom he did not identify, “received an implant” on Sunday and “is recovering well.”
Initial results, he added, showed “promising detection of neuronal spikes.”
He did not elaborate on the procedure, the patient, or the device the company implanted.
Scientists have been working for decades on similar ideas for brain-computer interfaces that, if successful, could one day help people with physical disabilities, change the way people communicate, or more.
There was no immediate independent confirmation of Neuralink's progress.
One of Neuralink's competitors, Precision Neuroscience, implanted its device in a human for the first time last year.
Musk's announcement comes eight months after Neuralink said it had received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to conduct its first human clinical study.
In September, Neuralink said it would begin recruiting patients for the study.
San Francisco-based Neuralink did not immediately respond to a request for more information.
The FDA, which regulates medical devices, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Musk's announcement.
Elon Musk, owner of Tesla and platform
[An inflatable balloon that is swallowed can help patients in the US and Mexico lose weight]
Neuralink previously said it was building a brain implant called Link
to help patients—including those with severe paralysis—use external technologies.
Musk said Monday that Neuralink's first product would be called Telepathy.
He did not detail whether this was a new device or a new name for the previously announced device.
Neuralink has faced accusations in recent years of mistreating some of the monkeys the company used in its experiments.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said last year after an investigation that it found no violations of animal research rules, other than a self-reported incident in 2019 in which a Neuralink surgeon used an unapproved sealant to close holes drilled in a monkey's skull, according to Reuters.
The Telepathy product
would allow people to control their phone or computer — and through those devices, almost any other device — with just their thoughts, according to Musk.
[Japanese robot explorer resumes operations on the Moon]
“The initial users will be those who have lost the use of their limbs,” he wrote in X. “Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a typist or a speedy auctioneer.
That is the goal.”
Musk co-founded Neuralink in 2016, adding the
brain science
startup to a list of other companies he runs, including Tesla and SpaceX.
He bought X, formerly known as Twitter, in 2022.
Neuralink is backed by more than 30 investors, including PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, according to TechCrunch.
Musk said in 2022 that he plans to get one of the Neuralink implants done himself.