Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk expects his brain-chip startup Neuralink to start its first human trial this year, the New York Post reported.
Speaking at the VivaTech event in Paris, co-founder Musk said Neuralink plans to implant a tetraplegic or paraplegic patient .
While Musk didn’t specify how many patients his company would implant or for how long, “it’s looking like the first case will be later this year,” said Musk, who is also CEO of electric carmaker Tesla, social media platform Twitter and the SpaceX rocket launch company.
Musk’s Neuralink project, which he co-founded in 2016, focuses on developing implantable brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) that can establish a direct connection between the human brain and external devices. The envisioned technology holds promising potential for treating neurological disorders, enabling advanced brain-computer interaction, and augmenting human intelligence.
With recent advancements in neuroscientific research and engineering, Musk believes that the first successful implantation of electronic chips in the human brain could occur as early as this year. The chips, referred to as “neural lace,” are designed to be minimally invasive and capable of transmitting and receiving neural signals.
