Tech maverick Elon Musk has revealed the cost of his firm's brain chips. The entrepreneur said surgery to implant the coin-size computer chip will be expensive at first, but then will become cheaper. "We would like the price to drop to several thousand dollars. It will include the implant and the surgery", Musk said during a webcast on Friday. According to the entrepreneur, Neuralink expects that, with time, all surgeries will be performed by robots and the chip itself will be so small that people will not be able to see it with the naked eye.
I could have a Neuralink right now and you wouldn’t know."... Maybe I do", Musk hinted.
During the webcast, the tech maverick presented a pig named Gertrude, who is said to have a computer chip inserted in her brain. The chip reportedly sends wireless signals, indicating neural activity in the snout when the pig looked for food. Neuroscientists not affiliated with the company praised it’s work, saying the demonstration showed that Neuralink had made great strides, but warned that much more research studies is needed.
Diseases, Telepathy and War With AI
By implanting computer chips in brains, Musk and Neuralink seek to rid humanity of diseases like dementia, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, as well as help those who suffer from spinal cord injuries or congenital health problems and are unable to walk or lead a full physical life. The entrepreneur previously claimed that an implantable device could also cure memory and hearing loss, depression and insomnia.
In the long-term, Musk and Neuralink seek to merge the human brain with artificial intelligence as the latter, Musk claims, poses an enormous danger to humanity and could destroy the human race.
According to Musk, brain implants will enable people to store and replay memories or potentially "download them into a new body or into a robot body" as well as communicate electronically by 'thinking at' each other.