Elon Musk announces successful placement of Neuralink brain implant in the brain of first human patient

Elon Musk, right, January 22, 2024, in Poland. Lukasz Gagulski – PAP/MAXPPP

Neuralink has implanted a chip in the brain of a first human patient, who recovered well from the intervention, Elon Musk, the boss of the neurotechnology start-up, said on Monday.

"Preliminary results show promising detection of neuronal spikes", wrote the American billionaire on the social network (formerly Twitter), of which he is the owner.

The first human received an implant from @Neuralink yesterday and is recovering well.

Initial results show promising neuron spike detection.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 29, 2024

Elon Musk also indicated that Neuralink's first product would be called Telepathy. The US drug regulator last year authorized Neuralink to conduct a first human trial of its brain chip.

Helping people with quadriplegia

This study aims to evaluate the functionality of the chip, which should allow quadriplegic people to control electronic devices by thought, according to the website of the start-up.

No comment on this trial was immediately obtained from Neuralink. The patient's identity has not been released, but he is doing well and initial results are "promising", according to Elon Musk cited by BFM.

Critics

Despite the hopes that Neuralink represents, many criticisms have been leveled against the project. The company is the target of several investigations by American authorities, one of them for animal abuse, reports in particular Les Echos.