Elon Musk says first human has received a brain implant from his Neuralink startup

Elon Musk posted the announcement on X (Picture: Reuters)

Elon Musk has announced his Neuralink company successfully implanted a wireless brain chip called Telepathy into a human for the first time.

‘Promising neuron spikes or nerve impulses’ were detected in the patient, who is reportedly recovering well, according to the billionaire.

The announcement comes after last May, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave the green light to Neuralink’s human clinical trials.

Musk hopes his company will be able to connect human brains to computers, and cure a range of conditions, including obesity, autism, depression and schizophrenia, as well as enabling web browsing and telepathy.

The Neuralink device will first target restoring vision and enabling movement of muscles in people who cannot do so, Musk had previously said.

He made headlines in 2022 when he said that he was so confident in the devices’ safety that he would be willing to implant them in his children.

A competitor for Neuralink, company Synchron, has already implanted a brain chip in a patient for the first time after getting clearance for human trials in 2021.

In 2022, Neuralink came under fire by animal rights groups for allegedly ‘mutilating monkey brains’.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine alleged the company carried out ‘invasive and deadly’ brain experiments on test monkeys.

Last year, it revealed footage of a monkey playing video games with its mind.

Their website says its mission is to: ‘Create a generalized brain interface to restore autonomy to those with unmet medical needs today and unlock human potential tomorrow.’

They also said they are currently focused on giving people with quadriplegia the ability to control their computers and mobiles with ‘their thoughts’.

Credit: metro