Latest news with #Neuralink
Euronews
a day ago
- Business
- Euronews
Neuralink implants brain-computer device into ninth participant
Neuralink said it implanted its brain-computer interface (BCI) device in its eighth and ninth participants over the weekend. The Elon Musk-owned company aims to help paralysed people use their computers and smartphones using only their thoughts. It works by connecting a person's nervous system to devices that can interpret their brain activity. This was the first time the neurotechnology company did two surgeries in one day, Neuralink said on the Musk-owned social media platform X. 'Both participants are recovering well and in great spirits,' the company said. 'We are looking forward to supporting them on their Neuralink journey'. The company did not disclose additional details about the participants' health or locations. Neuralink said in 2023 that US regulators had given it permission to test its device in people. The company implanted its first device in January 2024, in a man who was paralysed after a spinal cord injury. The implant made it possible for him to play video games and chess. After the third person got a Neuralink implant in January, Musk said he hoped it would be given to 20 to 30 more people this year. Other participants have also had spinal cord injuries or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which over time erodes patients' ability to move their arms, legs, and body. Neuralink's device is still in early clinical trials, testing the implant's initial safety and functionality in people with specific medical conditions that limit their mobility. But Musk has hyped it as a tool that could one day have much broader appeal. 'Neuralink will do live-changing [sic] good for ultimately millions, maybe billions, of people,' Musk wrote on X after the latest surgeries were announced. 'Imagine your loved one being able to walk again or your parent with dementia being able to recognise their child again,' he added. Neuralink is one of several companies working on BCIs. Other studies are exploring their use for people with cerebral palsy, dementia, stroke, and other health issues, according to a US clinical trials database.
India Today
a day ago
- Business
- India Today
Elon Musk says Neuralink brain implants could help millions reclaim lost abilities after double surgery success
Neuralink, the brain-computer interface company co-founded by Elon Musk, has once again announced successful surgeries, this time having successfully conducted two brain implant operations in a single day. The company revealed that both patients are recovering well. Elon Musk responded swiftly to the achievement and expressed his optimism about the technology's potential impact in the near the announcement of Neuralink, Musk wrote on X (formally Twitter) "Neuralink will do life-changing good for ultimately millions, maybe billions, of people. Imagine your loved one being able to walk again or your parent with dementia being able to recognise their child again." advertisementNeuralink conducted its first successful implantation in a human patient, 30-year-old Noland Arbaugh, in March 2024. Following the surgery, Arbaugh, who is paralysed from the shoulders down, was able to control a computer cursor and play chess using only his thoughts. With his successful surgery the company highlighted the capabilities of the Link in helping patients improve their living. What is the Neuralink brain chip? Neuralink's device, known as "the Link," is a brain-computer interface (BCI) designed to interpret neural activity and transmit it to external devices. This coin-sized implant is inserted directly into the skull, with ultra-thin threads embedded in the cerebral cortex. These threads are equipped with 1,024 electrodes which monitor brain signals. The data collected by these threads is then processed by a custom chip and sent wirelessly to connected devices via Neuralink performs this surgical process using a robotic surgical system developed by the company. Musk once noted that these robots are capable of inserting the electrodes with a precision far beyond human capability. The surgical robot ensures the threads are placed with minimal tissue damage and maximum primary aim of the Link is to restore basic abilities lost due to neurological damage. Initially, Neuralink is focused on assisting people with severe paralysis to regain control over digital devices, prosthetics, or communication systems through thought alone. By decoding neural signals and transmitting them back into the brain or other devices, the chip enables users to interact with technology in real-time, the future, Elon Musk has suggested that Neuralink could, in time, help treat a wide range of conditions, from spinal injuries and blindness to dementia and Neuralink's trials have received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the specifics of trial locations, long-term safety data, and performance metrics remain largely undisclosed. The limited public data, and the absence of registration with key clinical trial databases have raised ethical questions about transparency and regulatory compliance.- Ends
Euronews
a day ago
- Health
- Euronews
This AI-powered cap can transform thoughts into text
Imagine texting your friends and family by controlling your phone with just your thoughts. This idea was once the stuff of science fiction. Today, the idea of connecting the human brain to computers is moving closer to becoming a reality thanks to the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI). So far, technologies that allow transforming thoughts into text have often required a brain implant. Now, scientists at the University of Technology Sydney are using a cap-like device to explore how AI can interpret brain activity. The AI-powered cap monitors the brainwave patterns of a person wearing it and converts their thoughts into written language. The team behind the decoder says the system relies on two distinct types of AI to interpret brainwave signals. "At first, we use the deep learning model to translate the brain signals into the intended words," Chin-Teng Lin, a researcher at the University of Technology Sydney, said. "And then, we use the large language model to make the match of the decoded words and make up for the errors in EEG decoding," he added. The results are close, but not flawless, with about 75 per cent accuracy. The team says it is working toward a goal of 90 per cent accuracy. Could help stroke patients Other language decoding systems in development, so far, have required subjects to have surgical implants, or go throughfunctional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning. In 2023, a study about a stroke patient being able to communicate again thanks to a brain-computer interface and an AI voice generator made headlines. Last year, Elon Musk's brain chip Neuralink was first implanted in a human skull. Specialists say it could play a role in helping stroke patients recover. "As scientists, we look at a medical condition and we look at what function has been affected by that medical condition. What is the need of the patient?' Mohit Shivdasani, a researcher at the University of NSW bioelectronics, said. "We then address that unmet need through technology to restore that function back to what it was. After that, the sky's the limit," Shivdasani added. For more on this story, watch the video in the media player above.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Elon Musk's Company Achieves Major Breakthrough
Elon Musk's Neuralink is continuing to make advancements, with the company achieving a first over the weekend. According to Neuralink, it has successfully implanted its brain-computer interface (BCI) in its eighth and ninth participants. In addition, Neuralink revealed that both implants were done on the same day, which had never been done before. "We successfully completed both P8 and P9 this weekend, our first time performing two surgeries in one day," Neuralink wrote. "Both participants are recovering well and in great spirits. We are looking forward to supporting them on their Neuralink journey." Neuralink has already helped paraplegics in clinical trials, with the BCI chip enabling them to control a computer and robot arms with their thoughts. The hope is that one day the device will help those same people walk again. But Musk also believes the implant will help those who are deaf or hard of hearing and others with dementia down the road. "Neuralink will do life-changing good for ultimately millions, maybe billions, of people," Musk predicted. "Imagine your loved one being able to walk again or your parent with dementia being able to recognize their child again." Completing two surgeries in one day is a big step for Neuralink, as now it'll be possible for the company to help more people in a shorter amount of time. Whether or not Neuralink's device will be able to do what Musk says remains to be seen, but it's moving in the right Musk's Company Achieves Major Breakthrough first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 21, 2025
Gizmodo
2 days ago
- Business
- Gizmodo
Elon Musk-Founded Brain Implant Startup Says It's a ‘Disadvantaged' Business Despite Being Worth $9 Billion
Elon Musk, the rightwing culture warrior waging a 'civilization-saving' battle against the 'woke mind virus,' apparently isn't above taking advantage of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs when it serves his business purposes. Neuralink, the $9 billion brain implant startup that Musk founded, recently characterized itself as a 'small disadvantaged business' in a federal filing with the Small Business Administration. The SBA website notes that Neuralink attested in its filings that it is a 'Self-Certified Small Disadvantaged Business.' According to the SBA, businesses can qualify for this designation if the company is '51% or more owned and controlled by one or more disadvantaged persons.' The firm must also 'be small, according to SBA's size standards,' the site states. According to the code of federal regulations, socially disadvantaged people are defined thusly: …those who have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias within American society because of their identities as members of groups and without regard to their individual qualities. The social disadvantage must stem from circumstances beyond their control. The filing was first spotted by MuskWatch, a Substack focused on the Tesla billionaire, which accuses the company of having 'falsified federal forms.' MuskWatch published an excerpt from a form that it said was filed by Neuralink on April 24, in which the company checked the box affirming that it is a small disadvantaged business as defined in the code. The blog points out that the SDB designation can also only be legally claimed by companies owned by 'economically disadvantaged individuals,' and that federal regulations state that 'individuals with a net worth exceeding $850,000, excluding the value of their primary residence,' do not qualify as 'economically disadvantaged individuals.' Musk is obviously worth a lot more than that. It is certainly difficult to understand what disadvantaged group Neuralink could claim maintains ownership over the company. The structure of Neuralink's ownership isn't publicly available, but Musk held a majority stake in the company in 2019. The startup has since engaged in raising more funds, but primarily from Silicon Valley's lily white venture capital community. Gizmodo reached out to the firm for more information. The news is amusing and infuriating because two of the things Musk enjoys whining about most are the societal scourge of DEI and people who ask for help from the government. Now, his own company appears to be claiming it should get a federal handout because it is socially and economically disadvantaged. Of course, federal handouts have been the lifeblood of Tesla and SpaceX for many years. Since it was founded in 2016, Neuralink has sought to use neural implants and experimental science to usher in a new era of computer-to-brain interfacing. The startup received FDA approval for human clinical trials in May of 2023. Last year, the company streamed an interview with a quadriplegic who used Neuralink's brain implant to play video games. Prior to human testing, Neuralink trialed its implants on animals. While many of those test subjects are still alive today, many ended up getting euthanized. Some, allegedly, died quite horribly, leading to accusations of 'grotesque' animal abuse and a lawsuit from a physicians' group.
