Neuralink is developing a fully-implanted, wireless, high-channel count brain-machine interface (BMI) with the goal of enabling people with paralysis to directly use their neural activity to operate computers and mobile devices with speed and ease.
In a 2019 white paper, Neuralink outlined the design of the novel electrodes and the unique surgical approach, along with preliminary electrophysiology obtained in a rodent model. That generation of the Link had wired leads and a connector that protruded through the skin, and was an important platform for developing and validating the robotic surgical approach and the ultra low-power custom application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) for amplifying and processing neural signals. In 2020, Neuralink publicly shared a wireless version of the Link that was able to stream 1,024 channels of action potentials (also called “spikes”) wirelessly and in real time (Fig. 1). Neuralink demonstrated its functionality by recording somatosensory (touch) signals in pigs exploring their environment. The electrodes were placed in a part of the brain involved in processing signals from the pig’s exquisitely sensitive snout. As it snuffled about, the responses of the neurons to sensory cues could be readily observed.
Elon Musk has revealed that his Neuralink startup has implanted a wireless chip into a monkey’s brain in order to allow it to play video games.
The technology billionaire, who also heads SpaceX and Tesla, said the monkey “looks totally happy” and that Neuralink’s facilities meet US regulatory requirements.
Speaking during a Q&A session on the Clubhouse app, Mr Musk said the startup had moved beyond experiments on pigs and onto monkeys.
“We’ve already got like a monkey with a wireless implant in their skull and the tiny wires, who can play video games using his mind. And he looks totally happy. He does not look like an unhappy monkey,” Mr Musk said.
“You can’t even see where the neural implant was put in. He’s not uncomfortable and he doesn’t look weird.”
Mr Musk added that an inspector with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) described Neuralink’s laboratory as “the nicest monkey facilities” that they had ever seen. A spokesperson for the agency was not immediately available for comment.
“We went the extra mile for the monkeys,” Mr Musk said. “One of the things we’re trying to figure out [is] can we have the monkeys playing mind Pong with each other? That would be pretty cool.”
