Major breakthrough! Musk announces first human brain chip implant

There is new news about Musk’s brain-computer interface!

Elon Musk, a well-known American entrepreneur, said on January 29 that his brain-computer interface company Neuralink carried out the first human transplant of a brain-computer interface device on the 28th, and the transplant recipient is currently recovering well. Musk said that the first users of this product will be people who have lost the function of their limbs.

Neuralink was founded in 2016 and focuses on the research and development of implantable brain-computer interface devices. The company said that this device can read brain activity signals after being implanted in the brain, and hopes to use it to treat memory loss, cervical spinal cord injuries and other neurological diseases, and help paralyzed people restore the ability to communicate with the outside world and even walk again. In May 2023, the company obtained approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to start human clinical trials of brain implant devices. In September of the same year, the company began recruiting volunteers for clinical trials.

Valuation exceeds $5 billion

Due to its broad application prospects, brain-computer interfaces have received extremely wide attention both in the scientific research community and in the industrial community. The so-called brain-computer interface (BCI) is a direct communication and control channel established between the human brain and a computer or other electronic device. Through this channel, on the one hand, users can directly express their thoughts or control devices through brain activities; on the other hand, external devices continuously send various feedback information to the brain, allowing the brain to adjust the control strategy in time to maintain the stability of the entire system.

At present, most brain-computer interface research and development companies use "non-invasive technology", while Neuralink uses a more radical "invasive technology". According to the official website, Neuralink is developing a "fully implanted, wireless, high-channel brain-computer interface" with the goal of enabling paralyzed patients to quickly and easily operate computers and mobile devices directly using their neural activity. In fact, in the early days of Neuralink, its research team developed a "gentler" way to transmit devices and related signals to the brain through arteries. However, in 2019, the company denied the above technical route and replaced it with a "more radical" invasive brain-computer communication.

Founded in 2016, Neuralink now has more than 100 employees. It aims to surgically implant computer chips into the brain, connect the human brain to electronic devices, and then use electric current to allow computers and brain cells to "interact", ultimately restoring motor function to paralyzed patients, curing brain diseases such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease, and helping to restore vision in blind patients. The company first announced in 2019 that it would test its devices on monkeys. The following year, they showed a pig implanted with their device and made some design changes to the device. In 2021, Neuralink released a video showing a monkey implanted with its device playing video games through telepathy, which caused a huge sensation.

(Photo source: CCTV Finance)

Since 2019, Musk has repeatedly stated that Neuralink will soon begin human trials of brain-computer interfaces. However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rejected Neuralink's application for human trials on the grounds of safety risks. It was not until May 25, 2023 that Neuralink announced that it had obtained FDA approval to launch the first human clinical study of brain implants. On September 19, 2023, Neuralink announced that it had begun recruiting for the first human clinical trial, recruiting people with quadriplegia due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as "Lou Gehrig's disease").

According to foreign media reports, as early as June 2023, Neuralink's valuation has exceeded US$5 billion. In a round of US$205 million in private equity financing two years ago, Neuralink's valuation was close to US$2 billion.

It will take time for commercialization to take place

As for the future of brain-computer interfaces, analysts generally believe that the prospects are bright but it will take time to land. Musk has repeatedly expressed optimism about the prospects of Neuralink, saying that its chips will make life more convenient for both healthy and disabled people, and that devices for treating obesity, autism, depression and schizophrenia can be quickly inserted through surgery. He even predicted that these products will be used for users to surf the Internet and telepathy.

Some analysts say that typically, the first human trial (the type of research that Neuralink has just started) will recruit 5 to 10 people and take about six months. If all goes well, Neuralink can start what is called a "feasibility study." Last year, Neuralink said it expected to perform 11 surgeries by 2024. Despite the progress made in the trial, it will take some time for the commercialization of brain-computer interface chips to be implanted in the human brain.

"I do think there is a danger of over-hyping," said Jaimie Henderson, a consultant to Neuralink and a professor of neurosurgery at Stanford University, in a recent interview. He said he was excited about the technology, but he believed it would take years for approved devices to be available. Kip Ludwig, co-director of the University of Wisconsin's Institute for Neural Engineering, mentioned in an interview last year that he optimistically estimated that it would take at least 10 years for Neuralink to commercialize its brain implants.

In addition, brain-computer interface companies including Neuralink also face challenges from animal rights protection organizations. For example, Neuralink has conducted a lot of tests on animals, in which monkeys were able to play computer games using only their brains, but these experiments have attracted the attention of some animal rights protection organizations.