NEW YORK -- Elon Musk says Neuralink鈥檚 first human trial participant can control a computer mouse with their brain, nearly one month after having the company鈥檚 chip implanted. But details remain sparse, and other companies working on brain-computer interfaces appear to have so far cleared more technological hurdles than Neuralink.
鈥淧rogress is good, patient seems to have made a full recovery鈥� and is able to control the mouse, move the mouse around the screen just by thinking,鈥� Musk, who owns the controversial brain chip startup, said in a conversation in an X Spaces event Monday night.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to get as many button presses as possible from thinking, so that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e currently working on is 鈥� can we get left mouse, right mouse, mouse down, mouse up,鈥� he said, 鈥渨hich is kind of needed if you want to click and drag something, you need mouse down and to hold on mouse down.鈥�
Musk said last month that the company had completed its first implantation surgery on a human test subject, after having received approval last year to study the safety and functionality of its chip implant and surgical tools on humans.
Trial patients will have a chip surgically placed in the part of the brain that controls the intention to move. The chip, installed by a robot, will then record and send brain signals to an app, with the initial goal being 鈥渢o grant people the ability to control a computer cursor or keyboard using their thoughts alone,鈥� the company wrote in September.
Early success in the first human trial of the brain chip technology could mark an important milestone for Neuralink鈥檚 efforts to usher potentially life-transforming technology 鈥� especially for people unable to move or communicate 鈥� out of the lab and into the real world.
However, Musk has offered few details and no evidence about the outcome of the operation, so it鈥檚 not yet clear how significant of a scientific advancement the implantation represents.
Neuralink did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ultimately, Neuralink鈥檚 ambition is to use implants to connect human brains to computers to help, for example, paralyzed people to control smartphones or computers, or blind people to regain sight. Like existing brain-machine interfaces, the company鈥檚 implant would collect electrical signals sent out by the brain and interpret them as actions.
Musk said last month that the company鈥檚 first product would be called Telepathy, adding that its initial users will be people who have lost the use of their limbs.
鈥淚magine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer. That is the goal,鈥� he wrote.
One thing is clear: Consumers will not have widespread access to the technology anytime soon. Before Neuralink鈥檚 brain implants hit the broader market, they鈥檒l need regulatory approval.
Other companies doing similar work are farther along in the research process 鈥� for example, one firm called Synchron has been enrolling and implanting people in its trial since 2021.
Sychron that early human testers of its brain implant device, all of whom previously suffered from 鈥渟evere paralysis,鈥� were able to use the device to control a personal computing device for 鈥渇or routine digital activities鈥� such as texting, emailing and online shopping.
Neuralink faced scrutiny after a monkey died in 2022 during an attempt to get the animal to play Pong, . In December 2022, employees that the company was rushing to market, resulting in careless animal deaths and a federal investigation.
But in May of last year, Neuralink received FDA clearance for human clinical trials, and a few months later, the startup began recruiting patients with quadriplegia caused by cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
The trial is part of what Neuralink is calling its 鈥淧RIME Study,鈥� short for 鈥淧recise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface,鈥� which aims to study the safety of its implant and surgical robot, and to test the functionality of its device, the company said in a September about recruiting trial participants.
CNN鈥檚 Diksha Madhok and Jen Christensen contributed to this report
