Six months later, a computer chip will be implanted in the human brain

Elon Musk’s company Neuralink plans to implant a computer in people’s brains within the next six months, it was announced at an official event held at its California office.

The company has already perfected the implant, which consists of a tiny device and wires with electrodes. A mechanism (robotics) has been developed that implants the device into the brain.

Musk said Neuralink’s talks with the US Food and Drug Administration went well enough for the company to target first trials on volunteers within the next six months. In fact Musk said that Neuralink is already advancing its research into “behavior of implants” in other parts of the body. For example, he is developing chips that can be inserted into the spinal cord and potentially restore the movement of a person suffering from paralysis. An eye implant is designed to improve or restore a person’s vision.

The purpose of the brain implant, called a brain-computer interface or BCI, was originally to allow a person with a degenerative disease, such as those suffering from ALS or the effects of a stroke, to communicate “telepathically” by broadcasting their thoughts. The company demonstrated how to do this with a monkey “telepathically typing” on a screen placed in front of it.

The Neuralink device translates neural changes into data that a computer can interpret. Musk hopes that one day this device will become mainstream and allow the transfer of information between people and machines. His old point of view is that Humans can keep up with the development of artificial intelligence only with the help of computer improvements.

The type of brain surgery offered by Neuralink is far more invasive than Synchron or most other competitors in the industry. The patient needs to remove part of the skull and implant the wires into the brain tissue. Neuralink has been conducting trials on primates for many years to demonstrate that the procedure is safe and the chip can remain inside the brain for long periods of time without causing damage.

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