Elon Musk, the founder of Neuralink, confirmed that the first human patient implanted with a brain-chip from the startup has fully recovered and is able to control a computer mouse using their thoughts. Musk mentioned the successful progress during a Spaces event on the social media platform X, stating that the patient has shown no ill effects and is able to move the mouse around the screen just by thinking.
Neuralink is now focused on maximizing the number of mouse button clicks that the patient can achieve. The firm had received approval for human trial recruitment in September and successfully implanted a chip on its first human patient last month.
The study involves the use of a robot to surgically place a brain-computer interface implant in a specific region of the brain that controls movement intention. The initial goal of the project is to enable individuals to control a computer cursor or keyboard using their thoughts.
Elon Musk has high ambitions for Neuralink, envisioning it as a tool for quick surgical insertions of chip devices to address various conditions such as obesity, autism, depression, and schizophrenia. Further details on the patient’s progress and the study were not immediately available from Neuralink.
