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78-647: Neuralink Corp. is an American neurotechnology company that has developed, as of 2024, implantable brain–computer interfaces (BCIs). It was founded by Elon Musk and a team of eight scientists and engineers (Max Hodak, Benjamin Rapoport, Dongjin Seo, Paul Merolla, Philip Sabes, Tim Gardner, Tim Hanson, and Vanessa Tolosa). Neuralink was launched in 2016 and was first publicly reported in March 2017. In January 2017, Musk approached Pedram Mohseni and Randolph Nudo, who owned

156-578: A FDA breakthrough device designation which allows limited human testing under the FDA guidelines for medical devices. On May 29, 2024, Elon Musk issued a request for public input on a challenge facing Neuralink. Musk suggested that due to the size of the data in need of transmission, a compression rate of more than 200x was needed for its proper function. The challenge also specified that compression needed to be lossless, work under low power, and be able to compress data in real time. Software consultant Roy van Rijn

234-512: A University of Chicago clinical trial of the COVID-19 drug remdesivir , which were leaked to STAT without permission. Shares of Gilead Sciences , the developer of remdesivir, jumped higher in after-hours trading immediately after the report was published. In a statement to CNBC, a University of Chicago spokesperson said, “Partial data from an ongoing clinical trial is by definition incomplete and should never be used to draw conclusions about

312-549: A brain–machine interface (BMI) are at least 50 years old. He cited successful control of a robotic prosthetic arm by a man that gave him haptic feedback , which he used in 2016 to give President Obama a fist bump . Arzua said that the 2020 Neuralink presentation "showed little more than a flashy new design for a BMI with more electrodes ". Similar criticism is made by the Duke University researcher Miguel Nicolelis , stating that most of what Neuralink claims as "novelty"

390-400: A 1,536-channel recording system. This system consists of 256 amplifiers capable of being individually programmed, analog-to-digital converters within the chip and peripheral circuit control to serialize the digitized information obtained. It aims to convert information obtained from neurons into an understandable binary code in order to achieve a greater understanding of brain function and

468-517: A 2022 application to pursue human clinical trials citing "major safety concerns involving the device's lithium battery; the potential for the implant's tiny wires to migrate to other areas of the brain; and questions over whether and how the device can be removed without damaging brain tissue." In September 2023, Neuralink opened its first human trials. It recruited people with quadriplegia due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis under an investigational device exemption by

546-416: A century but has only reached maturity in the last twenty years. The advent of brain imaging revolutionized the field, allowing researchers to directly monitor the brain's activities during experiments. Practice in neurotechnology can be found in fields such as pharmaceutical practices, be it from drugs for depression, sleep, ADHD , or anti-neurotics to cancer scanning, stroke rehabilitation , etc. Many in

624-611: A few details in February on the implant in a recruitment brochure for the Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface (PRIME) study. On February 20, Musk stated that Neuralink's first human trial participant had been able to control a computer mouse through thought. On March 20, 2024, Neuralink introduced the person who had received the first Neuralink implant in the clinical trial as 29-year-old Noland Arbaugh through

702-1029: A high risk for decisional interference and emotional interference. BMIs can write information onto the brain, allowing BMIs such as Neuralink to alter a person’s emotions and decisions. Neurotechnology Common design goals for neurotechnologies include using neural activity readings to control external devices such as neuroprosthetics , altering neural activity via neuromodulation to repair or normalize function affected by neurological disorders , or augmenting cognitive abilities . In addition to their therapeutic or commercial uses, neurotechnologies also constitute powerful research tools to advance fundamental neuroscience knowledge. Some examples of neurotechnologies include deep brain stimulation , photostimulation based on optogenetics and photopharmacology , transcranial magnetic stimulation , transcranial electric stimulation and brain–computer interfaces , such as cochlear implants and retinal implants . The field of neurotechnology has been around for nearly half

780-554: A level above what was possible for him previously. Unlike Arbaugh, Alex's implantation procedure reduced brain motion during the surgery and placed the implant closer to the surface of the brain in an attempt to mitigate thread retraction. Since the initial operation, Alex has been reported to not have experienced any thread retraction. Alex stated in the article "The Link is a big step on the path of regaining freedom and independence for myself." In November 2024, Neuralink received approval from Health Canada for their first clinical trial in

858-477: A live demonstration in August 2020, Musk described their device as "a Fitbit in your skull". Several neuroscientists and publications criticized these claims. MIT Technology Review accused the demonstration of having the main objective to "stir excitement", adding that "Neuralink has provided no evidence that it can (or has even tried to) treat depression, insomnia, or a dozen other diseases that Musk mentioned in

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936-402: A livestream on X. Arbaugh had become a quadriplegic after experiencing a diving accident; dislocating his C4 and C5 spinal vertebrae . Later in the livestream, Noland demonstrated his ability to move a cursor on a computer screen to allow him to control music and play games such as chess. Noland expressed support for the implant in dramatically improving his quality of life. He acknowledged that

1014-485: A monkey playing the game " Pong " using the Neuralink implant. While similar technology has existed since 2002, when a research group first demonstrated a monkey moving a computer cursor with neural signals, scientists acknowledged the engineering progress in making the implant wireless and increasing the number of implanted electrodes. In May 2021, co-founder and president Max Hodak announced that he no longer works with

1092-428: A patient's pain. Even helping a patient remember, which would seemingly help preserve identity, can be a delicate question: "Forgetting is also important to how a person navigates the world, since it allows the opportunity for both losing track of embarrassing or difficult memories, and focusing on future-oriented activity. Efforts to enhance identity through memory preservation thus run the risk of inadvertently damaging

1170-424: A point of emphasizing the importance of preventively establishing specific regulatory frameworks and other mechanisms that protect against inappropriate or unauthorized uses. Identity in this context refers to personal continuity , described as bodily and mental integrity and their persistence over time. In other words, it is the individual's self-narrative and concept of self. While disruption of identity

1248-603: A second trial participant with the FDA signing off on the company's proposed fixes for a problem that occurred in the first test participant. In August 2024, the second trial participant was reportedly successfully implanted. The second trial participant, pseudonym "Alex," was reportedly able to create 3D designs by using the CAD software, Fusion 360. Alex has been said to have created a custom mount for his Neuralink charger through this process. Additional accounts of Alex's Link show that he has been able to play first person shooter games at

1326-441: A series of 10 novels by Iain M. Banks . Musk defined the neural lace as a "digital layer above the cortex" that would not necessarily imply extensive surgical insertion but ideally an implant through a vein or artery. He said the long-term goal is to achieve "symbiosis with artificial intelligence", which he perceives as an existential threat to humanity if it goes unchecked. He believes the device will be "something analogous to

1404-530: A slide". Andrew Jackson, professor of neural interfaces at Newcastle University , also commented on the presentation to the BBC . To Musk's statement that he found Neuralink's advancements to be "profound", Jackson responded, "I don't think there was anything revolutionary in the presentation." Thiago Arzua of the Medical College of Wisconsin argued that Neuralink's functions are not novel and that ideas for

1482-456: A three-story building with office and manufacturing space near Austin, Texas in Del Valle, located about 10 miles east of Tesla 's headquarters and manufacturing plant that opened in 2022. Since its founding, the company has hired several high-profile neuroscientists from various universities. By July 2019, it had received $ 158 million in funding (of which $ 100 million was from Musk) and

1560-505: A valuable, if less consciously-driven cognitive process." Although the nuances of its definition are debated in philosophy and sociology , agency is commonly understood as the individual's ability to consciously make and communicate a decision or choice. While identity and agency are distinct, an impairment in agency can in turn undermine personal identity: the subject may no longer be able to substantially modify their own self-narrative, and may therefore lose their ability to contribute to

1638-443: A variety of tasks, depending on the area of the brain being stimulated. TDCS has been used to enhance language and mathematical ability (though one form of TDCS was also found to inhibit math learning), attention span, problem solving, memory, coordination and relieve depression and chronic fatigue. Electroencephalography (EEG) is a method of measuring brainwave activity non-invasively. A number of electrodes are placed around

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1716-465: A video game, like a saved game situation, where you are able to resume and upload your last state" and "address brain injuries or spinal injuries and make up for whatever lost capacity somebody has with a chip." Jared Birchall , the head of Musk's family office , was listed as CEO, CFO and president of Neuralink in 2018. As of September 2018, Musk was the majority owner of Neuralink but did not hold an executive position. By August 2020, only three of

1794-473: Is Henry's "biggest and most ambitious standalone site yet". The site's name comes from the term "stat", short for statim , or "immediately"—a term that has long been used in medical contexts. As of February 2016, it had 45 staff members. On average, STAT reaches about 2.3 million unique readers every month, with over 196,000 newsletter subscribers. Notable stories Stat has broken include one about Robert Califf 's research, published after then–President of

1872-460: Is a form of neurostimulation which uses constant, low current delivered via electrodes placed on the scalp. The mechanisms underlying TDCS effects are still incompletely understood, but recent advances in neurotechnology allowing for in vivo assessment of brain electric activity during TDCS promise to advance understanding of these mechanisms. Research into using TDCS on healthy adults have demonstrated that TDCS can increase cognitive performance on

1950-502: Is an American health-oriented news website launched on November 4, 2015, by John W. Henry , the owner of The Boston Globe . It is produced by Boston Globe Media and is headquartered in the Globe ' s own building in Boston . Its executive editor is Rick Berke, who formerly worked at both The New York Times and Politico . According to Kelsey Sutton of Politico , the website

2028-428: Is based on technology developed at University of California, San Francisco and University of California, Berkeley . The probes, composed mostly of polyimide , a biocompatible material , with a thin gold or platinum conductor, are inserted into the brain through an automated process performed by a surgical robot. Each probe consists of an area of wires that contains electrodes capable of locating electrical signals in

2106-471: Is expected to change with time as a result of emotional development and lived experience, it is not easy to identify clear criteria and draw a line between acceptable shifts and problematic changes. This becomes even harder when dealing with neurotechnologies aimed at influencing psychological processes—such as those designed to recude the symptoms of depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by modulating emotional states or saliency of memories to ease

2184-402: Is necessary for scientists, citizens and policy makers alike to consider implications for privacy. This term is important in many ethical circles concerned with the state and goals of progress in the field of neurotechnology (see neuroethics ). Current improvements such as "brain fingerprinting" or lie detection using EEG or fMRI could give rise to a set fixture of loci/emotional relationships in

2262-426: Is not a common goal for neurotechnologies, some techniques can create unwanted shifts that range in severity. For instance, deep brain stimulation is commonly used as treatment for Parkinson's disease but can have side effects that touch on the concept of identity, such as loss of voice modulation, increased impulsivity or feelings of self-estrangement. In the case of neural prostheses and brain-computer interfaces,

2340-474: The United States . On January 29, 2024, Musk announced that Neuralink had successfully implanted a Neuralink device in a human and that the patient was recovering. The company has faced criticism for a large amount of euthanization of primates that underwent medical trials. Veterinary records of the monkeys showed a number of complications with electrodes being surgically implanted. In September 2024,

2418-561: The University of California, Davis . In 2019, during a live presentation at the California Academy of Sciences , the Neuralink team revealed to the public the technology of the first prototype they had been working on. It is a system that involves ultra-thin probes being inserted into the brain, a neurosurgical robot to perform the operations and a high-density electronic system capable of processing information from neurons. It

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2496-490: The zika outbreaks there. Stat began covering the Coronavirus outbreak early, starting with an article by Helen Branswell on 4 January 2020. The site's early coverage led to a surge in reader traffic 4-5 times above typical volumes. An April 16, 2020 article entitled "Early peek at data on Gilead coronavirus drug suggests patients are responding to treatment" by Adam Feuerstein contained early, incomplete results of

2574-433: The FDA, Neuralink performed further tests on pigs, in order to address further safety concerns. Certain subsets of these pig subjects were observed to have developed granulomas , or inflammatory tissues, in the brain. Neuralink was unable to determine the cause of the granulomas, but made official statements declaring that the Neuralink implant and it's associated threads were not the cause. In July 2023, an investigation by

2652-438: The FDA. On January 29, 2024, Musk said that Neuralink had successfully implanted a brain computer interface (BCI) device the company named Telepathy in a human on the day prior, and that the patient was recovering from the surgery. As it was a "first in human" and "early feasibility" trial to develop a concept, the company was not obligated to disclose details about the procedure or to prove safety or efficacy. Neuralink provided

2730-456: The PCRM believes that 15 of those monkeys died or were euthanized as a result of the experiments. Furthermore, the PCRM alleged that UC Davis withheld photographic and video evidence of the mistreatment. In February 2022, Neuralink said that macaque monkeys died and were euthanized after experimentation, denying that any animal abuse had occurred. In December 2022, it was reported that Neuralink

2808-633: The United States Barack Obama announced he would be his nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration . The site also uncovered claims made by a vitamin company to which President Donald Trump had licensed his name. The site's reporting has also inspired another presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders , to return a contribution that a disgraced former pharmaceutical industry CEO made to his campaign. The site has also sent multiple journalists to Colombia , Haiti , and Brazil to cover

2886-696: The United States Department of Agriculture found no evidence of animal welfare breaches in the trials other than a previous, self reported incident from 2019. The PCRM disputed the results of the investigation. In October 2023, Wired reported that Neuralink worked to keep details of animal suffering and death hidden from the public. In November 2023, U.S. lawmakers asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether Neuralink deceived investors by omitting details about possible animal deaths. On March 21, 2024, Musk stated that

2964-424: The ability to stimulate these neurons back. With the present technology, Neuralink's electrodes are still too big to record the firing of individual neurons, so they can record only the firing of a group of neurons; Neuralink representatives believe this issue might get mitigated algorithmically, but it is computationally expensive and does not produce exact results. In July 2020, according to Musk, Neuralink obtained

3042-512: The agent's intent and the device's output can come apart (think of how the auto-correct function in texting sometimes misinterprets the user's intent and sends problematic text messages), the user's sense of agency may be undermined." Finally, when these technologies are being developed society must understand that these neurotechnologies could reveal the one thing that people can always keep secret: what they are thinking. While there are large amounts of benefits associated with these technologies, it

3120-576: The brain by measuring the magnetic fields that arise from electrical currents in the brain. The benefit to using MEG instead of EEG is that these fields are highly localized and give rise to better understanding of how specific loci react to stimulation or if these regions over-activate (as in epileptic seizures). There are potential uses for EEG and MEG such as charting rehabilitation and improvement after trauma as well as testing neural conductivity in specific regions of epileptics or patients with personality disorders. EEG has been fundamental in understanding

3198-501: The brain functions and is used in many research labs focused on behavioral disorders, epilepsy , PTSD , migraine , hallucinations, and other disorders. Currently, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation is being researched to see if positive behavioral effects of TMS can be made more permanent. Some techniques combine TMS and another scanning method such as EEG to get additional information about brain activity such as cortical response. Transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS)

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3276-413: The brain, although these technologies are still years away from full application. It is important to consider how all these neurotechnologies might affect the future of society, and it is suggested that political, scientific, and civil debates are heard about the implementation of these newer technologies that potentially offer a new wealth of once-private information. Some ethicists are also concerned with

3354-424: The brain, and a sensory area where the wire interacts with an electronic system that allows amplification and acquisition of the brain signal. Each probe contains 48 or 96 wires, each of which contains 32 independent electrodes, making a system of up to 3072 electrodes per formation. Neuralink says they have engineered a surgical robot capable of rapidly inserting many flexible probes into the brain, which may avoid

3432-504: The brain, and they allow for normal activity in many people whose brains cannot act normally under physiological conditions. While pharmaceuticals are usually not mentioned and have their own field, the role of pharmaceuticals is perhaps the most far-reaching and commonplace in modern society. Movement of magnetic particles to targeted brain regions for drug delivery is an emerging field of study and causes no detectable circuit damage. Like other disruptive innovations , neurotechnologies have

3510-430: The brain. This field of study is currently receiving a large amount of attention due to the potential benefits that could come out of better understanding this technology. Transcranial magnetic movement of particles in the brain shows promise for drug targeting and delivery as studies have demonstrated this to be noninvasive on brain physiology. Transcranial magnetic stimulation is a relatively new method of studying how

3588-424: The brain. It can help control depression , over-activation, sleep deprivation, and many other conditions. Therapeutically it can help improve stroke patients' motor coordination, improve brain function, reduce epileptic episodes (see epilepsy ), improve patients with degenerative motor diseases ( Parkinson's disease , Huntington's disease , ALS ), and can even help alleviate phantom pain perception. Advances in

3666-477: The case, paradoxically, for those neurotechnologies designed to restore agency to patients, such as neural prostheses and BCI-mediated assistive technology like wheelchairs or computer accessibility tools. Because these devices often operate by interpreting sensory inputs or the user's neural data in order to estimate the individual's intention and respond according to it, estimation margins can lead to inaccurate or undesired responses that may threaten agency: "If

3744-660: The company announced that its latest development effort, called Blindsight , will allow those who would otherwise be blind to restore some level of vision, provided the visual cortex is undamaged. The development received "breakthrough" status from the federal government, which will accelerate development. Neuralink was founded in 2016 by Elon Musk and a founding team of eight scientists and engineers (Max Hodak, Benjamin Rapoport, Dongjin Seo, Paul Merolla, Philip Sabes, Tim Gardner, Tim Hanson, and Vanessa Tolosa). The group of initial hires consisted of experts in areas such as neuroscience, biochemistry and robotics. The trademark "Neuralink"

3822-468: The company's second product would be called Blindsight and was already working in animal trials with monkeys. He noted it operates at low resolution that is expected to improve and also stated that no monkey has died due to or been seriously injured by a Neuralink device, in contradiction with earlier reports. Neuralink received FDA approval for human clinical trials in May 2023. The FDA had previously rejected

3900-401: The company. Co-founder Benjamin Rapoport cited safety concerns as a major influence on his decision to leave Neuralink in 2018. Rapoport subsequently founded Precision Neuroscience , emphasizing the use of surface electrodes as opposed to the penetrating electrodes of Neuralink, in order to address brain damage and other safety concerns caused by the methodology of Neuralink devices. Only two of

3978-464: The country. The name of the trial is CAN-PRIME. Scientists have cited technical challenges for Neuralink. In 2017, a journalist at the IEEE Spectrum magazine had asked for comments from five researchers that had been working on BCI implants, including Thomas Oxley . Oxley described the Neuralink developments as “exciting”, but expected there to be no real results in the foreseeable future. At

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4056-543: The device is not perfect yet but he is excited about the future and believes it has changed his life significantly. Arbaugh later stated in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that 85% of the implant threads from the device had completely detached while his brain has shifted approximately three times the amount of what the company expected. Since then, however, Arbaugh's threads have reportedly stabilized and he has regained performance regarding his link. The Wall Street Journal also reported that Neuralink would proceed with

4134-400: The dynamic process of identity formation. The interplay between agency and neurotechnology can have implications for moral responsibility and legal liability. As with identity, devices aimed at treating some psychiatric conditions like depression or anorexia may work by modulating neural function linked with desire or motivation, potentially compromising the user's agency. This can also be

4212-499: The education sector. This raises concerns about unequal advantages for certain students. Due to AI’s increased problem-solving skills and memory, students with Neuralink implants will have an unfair advantage and consistently score higher on standardized tests. This inequality will further expand toward college placement and job opportunities. Extending to employment and the workforce, anyone with Neuralink’s onboard AI will be considerably more productive and efficient, potentially widening

4290-605: The eight co-founders remained at the company by January 2022. On February 8th, 2024, Musk changed the location of its business incorporation from Delaware to Nevada due to Delaware Chancery Court Chief Judge Kathaleen St. J. McCormick voiding Musk’s $ 55 billion pay package at Tesla. In 2018, Gizmodo reported that Neuralink "remained highly secretive about its work", although public records showed that it had sought to open an animal testing facility in San Francisco, California; it subsequently started to carry out research at

4368-688: The eight founding scientists remained at the company, according to an article by Stat News which reported that Neuralink had seen "years of internal conflict in which rushed timelines have clashed with the slow and incremental pace of science." As of 2020, Neuralink was headquartered in San Francisco's Mission District , sharing the Pioneer building with OpenAI , another company co-founded by Musk. As of 2022, Neuralink's headquarters were in Fremont, California . In April 2021, Neuralink demonstrated

4446-510: The end of their partnership, UC Davis transferred seven monkeys to Neuralink. In 2022, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), an animal welfare advocacy group, alleged that Neuralink and UC Davis had mistreated several monkeys, subjecting them to psychological distress, extreme suffering, and chronic infections due to surgeries. Experiments conducted by Neuralink and UC Davis have involved at least 23 monkeys, and

4524-403: The field aim to control and harness more of what the brain does and how it influences lifestyles and personalities. Commonplace technologies already attempt to do this; games like BrainAge , and programs like Fast ForWord that aim to improve brain function, are neurotechnologies. Currently, modern science can image nearly all aspects of the brain as well as control a degree of the function of

4602-532: The field promise many new enhancements and rehabilitation methods for patients with neurological problems. The neurotechnology revolution has given rise to the Decade of the Mind initiative, which was started in 2007. It also offers the possibility of revealing the mechanisms by which mind and consciousness emerge from the brain. Deep brain stimulation is currently used in patients with movement disorders to improve

4680-529: The gap between those with and without access to this technology. This advantage allows Neuralink users to be more valuable to companies and thus have precedence regarding promotions and raises. BMIs such as Neuralink record every minute detail. Neuralink will collect a person’s thoughts, emotions, feelings, and experiences. This results in an extreme privacy risk, as this information can be sold to social media and marketing companies. Furthermore, with almost all of this information being stored digitally, there remains

4758-431: The head and scalp and electrical signals are measured. Clinically, EEGs are used to study epilepsy as well as stroke and tumor presence in the brain. Electrocorticography (ECoG) relies on similar principles but requires invasive implantation of electrodes on the brain's surface to measure local field potentials or action potentials more sensitively. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is another method of measuring activity in

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4836-401: The needle, enabling fast retraction acceleration and varying insertion speeds. A 50-μm tungsten wire that has been bent at the tip and is driven both axially and rotationally makes up the pincher. An imaging stack is also included in the inserter head for needle guidance, real-time insertion viewing, and verification. Neuralink has developed an application-specific integrated circuit to create

4914-537: The pigs had once had a Neuralink chip implanted in its brain and subsequently removed to demonstrate that the chip can be safely removed without affecting the health of the pigs negatively. The third pig had not had a chip implanted in its brain at all, even in the past. The aim of the third was for comparison to show that show a similarity in health and behavior of both implanted and non-implanted pigs. From 2017 to 2020, Neuralink's experiments on monkeys were conducted in partnership with University of California, Davis . At

4992-407: The potential for profound social and legal repercussions, and as such their development and introduction to society raise a series of ethical questions. Key concerns include the preservation of identity, agency, cognitive liberty and privacy as neurorights . While experts agree that these core features of the human experience stand to benefit from the ethical use of neurotechnology, they also make

5070-501: The primate deaths based on public records and confidential interviews with a former Neuralink employee and a current researcher at the California National Primate Research Center . Those records showed complications with the installation of electrodes, including partial paralysis , bloody diarrhea, lost fingers and brain swelling . In 2022, after being rejected for human clinical trials by

5148-409: The problems of tissue damage and longevity issues associated with larger and more rigid probes. This surgical robot has an insertion head with a 25 μm diameter needle made of tungsten - rhenium designed to attach to the insertion loops, inject individual probes, and penetrate the meninges and cerebral tissue; it is capable of inserting up to six wires (192 electrodes) per minute. A linear motor powers

5226-409: The quality of life in patients. Transcrancial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) is a technique using ultrasound to modulate neural activity in the brain. It is an emerging technique that has shown therapeutic promise in a variety of neurological diseases. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a technique for applying magnetic fields to the brain to manipulate electrical activity at specific loci in

5304-532: The resting brain during sleep. Real-time EEG has been considered for use in lie detection . Similarly, real-time fMRI is being researched as a method for pain therapy by altering how people perceive pain if they are made aware of how their brain is functioning while in pain. By providing direct and understandable feedback, researchers can help patients with chronic pain decrease their symptoms. Neurotechnological implants can be used to record and utilize brain activity to control other devices which provide feedback to

5382-435: The rights to the name “NeuraLink.” These two neuroscientists strived to create an electronic brain chip to treat traumatic brain injury. They made significant progress and completed preliminary testing but could not receive enough funding or support from investors to continue. Musk approached the two and offered tens of thousands of dollars for the company’s name. The company is based in Fremont, California with plans to build

5460-412: The shift may take the form of an extension of one's sense of self, potentially incorporating the device as an integral part of oneself or expanding the range of sensory and cognitive channels available to the user beyond the traditional senses . Part of the difficulty in determining which changes constitute a threat to identity is rooted in its dynamic nature: since one's personality and concept of self

5538-528: The use of TMS and fear that the technique could be used to alter patients in ways that are undesired by the patient. Cognitive liberty refers to a suggested right to self-determination of individuals to control their own mental processes, cognition, and consciousness including by the use of various neurotechnologies and psychoactive substances. This perceived right is relevant for reformation and development of associated laws. Stat (website) Stat (stylized STAT , sometimes also called Stat News )

5616-461: The user or replace missing biological functions. The most common neurodevices available for clinical use are deep brain stimulators implanted in the subthalamic nucleus for patients with Parkinson's disease . Pharmaceuticals play a vital role in maintaining stable brain chemistry, and are the most commonly used neurotechnology by the general public and medicine. Drugs like sertraline , methylphenidate , and zolpidem act as chemical modulators in

5694-671: Was already performed by his lab in the early 2000s; that there are ethical concerns regarding how the company markets and uses this technology; and that most patients don't want to perform any surgery to recover their movements, and so his team developed non-invasive techniques for BMI, as demonstrated in the opening ceremony of the 2014 FIFA World Cup , in the context of the Walk Again Project . Neuralink also has plans to implement onboard artificial intelligence to Neuralink implants. Current AI models such as ChatGPT have shown strong signs of problem-solving skills and are shifting

5772-602: Was displayed in real time. A removable device the size of a coin (23 millimeters) implanted in Gertrude's brain recorded signals from the neurons connected to her snout as it interacted with its environment, such as when it sniffed or touched things. The data showed that the technology could read and interpret brain signals, which is key to developing applications that could help treat neurological conditions, enable brain-to-machine communication, and potentially enhance human cognition. The demonstration also had 2 other pigs. One of

5850-462: Was employing a staff of 90 employees. At that time, Neuralink announced that it was working on a "sewing machine-like" device capable of implanting very thin (4 to 6 μm in width) threads into the brain, and demonstrated a system that reads information from a lab rat via 1,500 electrodes . They had anticipated starting experiments with humans in 2020, but have since moved that projection to 2023. As of May 2023, they have been approved for human trials in

5928-528: Was purchased from its previous owners in January 2017. In April 2017, Neuralink announced that it was aiming to make devices to treat serious brain diseases in the short-term, with the eventual goal of human enhancement , sometimes called transhumanism . Musk had said his interest in the idea partly stemmed from the science fiction concept of " neural lace " in the fictional universe in The Culture ,

6006-489: Was quoted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as saying the prospect of 200x lossless compression was "just outlandish." Neuralink tests their devices by surgically implanting them in the brains of live monkeys , pigs and other animals. This has been criticized by groups such as PETA . In August 2020, Neuralink conducted a live demo in which the brain activity of a pig, Gertrude,

6084-492: Was under federal investigation by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) regarding animal welfare violations . Additionally, a report by Reuters cited claims from several Neuralink employees that testing was being rushed due to Musk's demands for fast results, which was leading to needless suffering and deaths among the animals. A September 2023 exposé by Wired provided additional details on

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