Elon Musk is known for his high-profile companies like Tesla and SpaceX, but the billionaire also
has a handful of unusual ventures. Neuralink is one of Elon Musk’s strange and futuristic
companies. He said he started it to achieve “symbiosis” between the human brain and artificial
intelligence.
Neuralink is Musk’s neural-interface-technology company. It’s developing a device that would
be embedded in a person’s brain, where it would record brain activity and potentially stimulate
it. Musk has compared the technology to a ” FitBit in your skull .” Neuralink first became publicly
known in 2017 when The Wall Street Journal reported on its existence.
Neuralink is developing two bits of equipment. The first is a chip that would be implanted in a
person’s skull, with electrodes fanning out into their brain. The chip Neuralink is developing is
about the size of a coin and would be embedded in a person’s skull. From the chip, an array of
tiny wires, each roughly 20 times thinner than a human hair, fan out into the patient’s brain.
The wires are equipped with 1,024 electrodes, which are able to monitor brain activity and,
theoretically, electrically stimulate the brain. The chip transmits this data wirelessly via the chip
to computers, where researchers can study it.
The second is a robot that could automatically implant the chip. The robot would work by using
a stiff needle to punch the flexible wires emanating from a Neuralink chip into a person’s brain,
a bit like a sewing machine. Neuralink released a video showcasing the robot in January 2021.
Musk has claimed the machine could make implanting Neuralink’s electrodes as easy as LASIK
eye surgery. While this is a bold claim, neuroscientists previously told Insider in 2019 that the
machine has some very promising features.
Neuralink’s chip processes and transmits neural signals that could be transmitted to devices like
a computer or a phone. The company hopes that a person would potentially be able to control
a mouse, keyboard or other computer functions like text messaging with their thoughts.
Neuralink also believes its device will eventually be able to restore neural activity inside the
body, allowing those with spinal cord injuries.
Elon Musk excitedly announced in a 2019 presentation that Neuralink had successfully
implanted its chip into a monkey. A video was released in 2021 that showed a monkey playing a
simple videogame after being implanted with a brain chip.
Now this chip is all se to implant in the human brains. This brain computer interface could be
used to expand the capabilities of humans changing the way we interact with technology and
treat neural and mobility issues. This is going to be a true revolution in the world of artificial
intelligence.
Neuralink – A chip to control Human Brain
