US billionaire and business owner Elon Musk says his tech start up Neuralink has successfully inserted a chip into the brain of its first human test subject.
The 52-year-old took to his company X (formerly Twitter) on Monday writing: “The first human received an implant from @Neuralink yesterday and is recovering well. Initial results show promising neuron spike detection.”
Last month, the company announced it was looking for quadriplegics under 40 years of age to participate in their testing. According to a report, the company’s testing involves removing part of the patient’s skull before allowing a 7-foot-tall robot to implant 64 threads lined with electrodes into that person’s brain.
“The short-term goal of the company is to build a generalized brain interface and restore autonomy to those with debilitating neurological conditions and unmet medical needs,” said DJ Seo, the co-founder of Neuralink.
“Then, really, the long-term goal is to have this available for billions of people and unlock human potential and go beyond our biological capabilities,” added Seo.
Last year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave Neuralink clearance to conduct its first trial to test its implants on humans after the company performed hundreds of tests on pigs, sheep and monkeys.
The company has killed about 1,500 animals as a result. The medical device company fell under a federal investigation for potential animal-welfare violations amid complaints that animal testing was being rushed, and that animals were needlessly suffering and dying as a result, according to a report from December of 2022.
Current and former Neuralink employees claimed that the number of animal deaths was higher than is typical for medical research due to Musk’s demands to speed up the process. According to the report, he sent staffers a news article which claimed Swiss researchers were able to help a paralyzed man walk again with the aid of an electrical implant.
“We could enable people to use their hands and walk again in daily life!” Musk wrote in an email in 2022 to staff. “In general, we are simply not moving fast enough. It is driving me nuts!”
Earlier this month the company was also fined for violating US Department of Transportation (DoT) rules regarding the movement of hazardous materials, according to a report. The company’s facilities in Texas and California were investigated in February of 2023 and the DoT found that Neuralink had failed to register itself as a transporter of hazardous material.