The Elon Musk-founded medical research startup, Neuralink, which aims to create a brain-computer interface via chip implants to the brain, is planning to start human trials of its technology within the year. The company has long been experimenting on monkeys and other apes, but its practices have been highly controversial, with animal rights activists accusing Neuralink of torturing, maiming, and killing animals by conducting reckless experimental procedures. According to their allegations, the vast majority of the monkeys and primates with experimental implants from Neuralink died a painful death from brain hemorrhages or had to be euthanized because they were in agonizing pain.
Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Neuralink is a neuro-technology company co-founded by Elon Musk in 2016. The company has a stated objective of helping people recover from debilitating brain and spinal cord injuries and various mental disorders with the help of chips implanted into their brains. However, ever since its inception, Neuralink has battled allegations of animal cruelty, although Musk and others involved with the company have typically brushed aside those charges. Multiple reports over the past year have also claimed that the company is gearing up for its first human trials, but to date, that hasn't happened.
During Neuralink's latest 'Show & Tell' event on Wednesday, Elon Musk said that the company will soon be able to graduate from primates and test its brain-implant technology on humans. Musk claimed in the opening portion of the presentation that Neuralink has already submitted most of its paperwork to the U.S. FDA and is waiting for its approval before moving forward with its human trials. "We think probably in about six months we should be able to have our first Neuralink in a human," Musk said. He later doubled down in a tweet, saying, "We are now confident that the Neuralink device is ready for humans, so timing is a function of working through the FDA approval process."
Neuralink's Brain-Machine Interface
Musk also brushed off the FDA's concerns about the chips overheating inside the brain, as well as toxic chemicals potentially seeping into the bloodstream following the implant. To emphasize his point about how safe the implants are, Musk claimed he would get one himself. "I could have a Neuralink device implanted right now, and you wouldn’t even know, hypothetically," he said. He also claimed that he'll very likely have an implant for a future demonstration. For this presentation, though, the company relied on monkeys again, showing a monkey implanted with the Neuralink device "typing" on an on-screen keyboard using its mind.
Despite Elon Musk's assertion that Neuralink is ready for prime time, questions linger about the safety and efficacy of the technology. However, despite the red flags, Neuralink has managed to string together a few success stories. Back in 2020, the company released a demo that showed a neural implant in a pig that was able to pick up brain activity. That was followed by a viral 2021 video that seemed to show a monkey named Pager playing the classic video game Pong using its mind after a neural implant.
Source: Neuralink/YouTube, Elon Musk/Twitter