Quoted by Elon Musk as a “… Fitbit in your skull with tiny wires”, Neuralink is a device that’s embedded into a person’s brain, where activity is recorded and potentially stimulated. Neuralink was founded “under the radar” in 2016 and first became publicly known in 2017 when the Wall Street Journal reported its existence. Neuralink is developing two items. First, a chip would be implanted in a person’s skull behind the ear, with electrodes fanning out into their brain (it would be charged wirelessly). Second, Neuralink is developing a robot that could automatically implant the chip.
Prototypes are promising – though they’re not in humans. In 2020, Neuralink showed off one of its chips embedded in a pig named Gertrude. The chip was able to accurately predict the positioning of Gertrude’s limbs when she was walking on the treadmill and record neural activity when the pig searched for food. Later in April 2021, Neuralink tested on Pager the monkey. Pager was able to accurately play “Pong” for a banana-smoothie reward using a joystick that was disconnected from the gaming console (e.g., Pager was controlling the cursor using his brain signals as his arm moved)! Although this demonstration was impressive to the public, neuroscientists remained largely unimpressed.
In December 2022, Elon Musk said that he expects a brain chip to begin human trials within the next six months. He reported that most of the FDA paperwork for approval had been submitted. This is slower than Musk anticipated and behind competitor – Synchron, which has approval for trials and implanted its first participant in New York City in 2022. Synchron’s first target is the motor cortex for the treatment of paralysis, which has a market opportunity of $20B”. Competitors like Facebook are also interested in the BCI (brain-computer interface), with the goal of allowing mobile device and computer users the ability to communicate at a speed of at least 100 words per minute – faster than anyone can type by phone.
Although there are many potential benefits to this technology, “these Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) could [first] empower millions of disabled people to more easily communicate and engage in modern life.” Disabilities also include autism, schizophrenia, and memory loss. Down the road, twenty-five years from now, Musk expects the technology to have developed into a full brain interface, which will enable symbiosis between humans and AI. This can help us reach our full cognitive potential.