Telepathy: The chip Elon Musk's company just implanted in someone’s brain

Billionaire Elon Musk has announced on his social media platform X that the first human received an implant from Neuralink on Sunday, Jan. 28. Musk said the individual is “recovering well.”

Musk has kept most of the details under wraps, but he did write that: “Initial results show promising neuron spike detection.” The BBC emphasized that no third party has yet verified the claim and that Neuralink also did not mention it.

The billionaire also unveiled the name of the brain chip that has been implanted — telepathy, referring to the supernatural ability to communicate information from one person’s mind to another.

Image: @neuralink/X

Musk added that the first users of Telepathy will be people who have lost the use of their limbs. Why? Because the device, according to Musk, enables "control of your phone or computer, and through them almost any device, just by thinking."

Image: neura.link/Instagram

He added that the eventual goal of Telepathy is to help those with disabilities communicate faster. “Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer. That is the goal.” Hawking had myotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

Musk co-founded Neurolink in 2016 and began testing chips in 2018. In all, Reuters reports that “the company has killed about 1,500 animals” from sheep to pigs to monkeys following experiments. While some animal cruelty organizations called for a probe, Musk denied wrongdoing.

Image: A Monkey playing “MindPong” with an implant, Neuralink/Youtube

In a 2023 statement from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, they said it obtained internal records “detailing painful, deadly experiments conducted on monkeys,” which triggered three federal agencies to launch investigations.

Image: @neuralink/X

In late 2022, the billionaire said at a Neurolink Show and Tell Event that if one of his kids broke their neck or had a similar injury, he would be “comfortable” implanting them with a chip. “We’re at the point where, at least in my opinion, it would not be dangerous,” Musk added.

In May 2023, the American U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave Neuralink the green light to begin testing in humans. This was a few years later than his original timeline, but the company began seeking a brave volunteer late last year.

According to the Neuralink website, the study aims to evaluate the safety of the implant and surgical robot. “This study involves placing a small, cosmetically invisible implant in a part of the brain that plans movements. The device is designed to interpret a person’s neural activity, so they can operate a computer or smartphone by simply intending to move – no wires or physical movement are required.”

Image: @neuralink/X

“Musk needs to drop his obsession with sticking a device in our heads,” says Ryan Merkley, director of research advocacy with the Physicians Committee. “If he cared about the health of patients, he would invest in a noninvasive brain-computer interface.” The 2023 statement said there has been better progress to help paralyzed patients that don’t involve wiring a chip inside the skull.

Image: @neuralink/X

If true, Neuralink is not the first company to test a brain chip. US company Blackrock Neurotech implanted many brain computers starting in 2004. So far, it has implanted brain chips in at least three dozen people, according to its Instagram. The chips also help patients with paralysis move robotic limbs, or even regain control of a paralyzed arm, according to the company.

Image: blackrockneuro/Instagram

According to Reuters, Musk also believes the implants might be able to “cure a range of conditions including obesity, autism, depression, and schizophrenia as well as enabling Web browsing and telepathy.” He has also claimed the technology can influence emotions like epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, and stroke.

In 2022, Musk said the brain chips ultimately put humans on a path to “symbiosis with artificial intelligence,” according to the Wall Street Journal. He said it would take years, but hopes that the chips can get updated while in brains to keep improving.

Imagine if you could save your memories like you save pictures. That’s another use Musk envisions for the chips. “In the future, you'll be able to save and replay memories,” Musk said at a Neuralink presentation. “You could potentially download them into a new body or into a robot body.”

Image: neura.link/Instagram

In a video posted on Instagram, Musk said he considered his companies SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink, and The Boring Company to be philanthropic efforts. “If you say philanthropy is love of humanity, they are philanthropy,” he said. Hey, and let’s not forget they’ve made him the (now second?) richest man on Earth, with a fortune of $204.5 billion, according to Forbes.