Elon Musk says Neuralink’s manned experiment is about six months away
Elon Musk said that Neuralink could place one of its devices on someone’s head in the next six months. Musk also claimed that he will place the device on his own head at some point.
Musk said the company has submitted most of the paperwork required for a human clinical trial to the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates medical devices in the US. Musk first said that human trials would begin in 2020, then this time frame was extended to 2022. It seems that these trials will not take place before 2023.
Founded in 2016 by Elon Musk, Neuralink is developing high-bandwidth brain implants that can communicate with phones and computers. The most important product of Neuralink is a neural interface device called N1 Link, where the wires spread towards the cortex of the brain, a microchip that sits on the human skull. The device theoretically allows the chip to both monitor brain activity and send signals to the brain. The chip has many theoretical applications, including treating neurological conditions and enabling amputees to control robotic limbs.
In a statement made by Neuralink, the company’s mission is to develop brain-machine interfaces that treat a variety of brain-related ailments, with the goal of creating a whole-brain interface that can more closely connect biological and artificial intelligence.
Elon Musk announced in 2019 that the device was tested on monkeys. The device was tested on pigs in 2020.
