Elon Musk’s Brain Chip Company Ready To Test On Humans?
This article is more than 2 years old
Business tycoon Elon Musk has made a huge announcement regarding his company Neuralink. Neuralink is set to begin human clinical trials in six months’ time for a wireless device to be implanted in the brains of disabled patients. The microchip is excepted to aid the patients in communication and movements.
Neuralink has already undergone animal testing for the past several years. The company is awaiting final approval from the United States regulatory division to begin human testing in six months. Elon Musk put out a tweet that, in other words, said the company appears to be confident in moving forward with human testing.
Elon Musk and Neuralink had a presentation in April of 2021 with a monkey that has a Neuralink chip implanted into its brain. As part of the presentation, the monkey was playing a computer game using only its brain. The company has been working on perfecting the microchip before moving into the field of human testing.
Neuralink was founded and launched in 2016 by Elon Musk. The company has two goals; one is to develop a chip that would allow the brain to manipulate complex electronic devices, and the other goal is to enable people with disabilities, such as paralysis to regain motor functions. The microchip and technologies being utilized by Neuralink would be a combination of human capabilities and artificial intelligence.
Implanting a microchip into the brain of a living human being or even an animal is highly controversial and dangerous. Neuralink has taken on a heavy load with this development. Currently, the company is way off its original schedule, but that may be for good.
Elon musk is not only the owner of Neuralink but other companies, including Tesla and Twitter. Tesla has had a number of recalls lately due to several seemingly fundamental issues involving safety. Additionally, Elon Musk has not exactly handled the takeover of Twitter with regard or empathy to the humans who previously worked for Twitter.
As his other business is currently in a whirlwind of drama and, from what it appears, not being run and operated in the best light, it seems that Elon Musk may not be the best person to be heading a company like Neuralink; one that is expected to implant devices into human brains. If he can produce cars that are not functioning at the most basic safety level, why on earth would he be trying to develop such a complex device? Seems a little scary.
Neuralink is not the only company of its kind; in fact, another company, Synchron, is already undergoing human trials. Synchron received approval and implanted its first device in a patient in July of 2021. In addition to the first patient, Synchron has completed four other studies on four other people with its brain-computer interface device.
Elon Musk has even approached the Neuralink competitor after his company failed to make progress at a speed that he thought suitable. Things such as microchips implanted into a human brain take time and extreme caution. Elon Musk and company have taken on a major task in this one and the results could significantly alter the future of brain and human functioning if they can pull it off.
