Neuralink’s brain chip has been implanted in a second patient, Elon Musk, as part of its first human trials This was reported by podcast host Lex Friedman Saturday. The company did not disclose when the transaction took place or the name of the buyer Reuters.
Musk said that 400 of the 1,024 electrodes implanted in the second patient’s brain worked. “I don’t want to hurt him, but it seems to have gone really well,” he said. “There’s a lot of signal, a lot of electrodes. It works very well.”
The device allows patients with spinal cord injury to play video games, use the Internet, and control electronic devices using their thoughts alone. Company in May announced After FDA approval, the trial is “accepting applications for a second participant.”
Original Neuralink implant patient Nolan Arbaugh called the surgery “so easy.” In a demo, the company showed Arbaugh being able to move the cursor around the laptop screen, pause the on-screen music player and play chess. Civilization VI.
Arbaugh himself participated in a marathon podcast with Musk and Friedman. She said the device allows her to make anything happen on her computer screen just by thinking about it, helping her to reduce her dependence on caregivers.
But shortly after the operation, problems arose when some of the electrodes were withdrawn from his brain. The problem was later partially fixed by modifying the algorithm to make the implants more sensitive. Neuralink told the FDA that in the second procedure, it will place the implant’s threads deeper into the patient’s brain to prevent them from moving as in Arbaugh’s case.
Neuralink has previously tested its implant on animals, including chimpanzees, and some of those test experiments federal investigations.
Despite these problems, the company said it had more than 1,000 volunteers for the second surgical trial. Musk said Neuralink expects to implant its chips in eight more patients by the end of 2024.
