Musk company
Neuralink implant lets paralyzed people play chess with their minds
Neuralink surgically implants computer components onto the surface of the brain to control devices (symbolic image)
© AYDINOZON/Getty Images
Earlier this year, Neuralink announced that it had implanted a brain implant into a patient. Now Elon Musk’s company is presenting the paralyzed man in a video using his computer.
Technology billionaire Elon Musk’s start-up company Neuralink has distributed a video of a paraplegic person apparently using a brain implant to communicate his thoughts on a computer plays chess. 29-year-old Noland Arbaugh, who has been paralyzed from the shoulder down since a diving accident eight years ago, says in the clip that he can now control the cursor on a computer screen with his mind.
The implant has made it easier for him to pursue many of his hobbies, says Arbaugh in the Neuralink video in a conversation with a company engineer. By controlling the cursor using his thoughts, he could, among other things, play the video game “Civilization” and learn Japanese and French.
Neuralink founder Musk announced in January that his company had inserted a brain implant into a patient for the first time. At the end of February he declared that he could now control a computer mouse with his thoughts.
“There is still a lot to do, but it has already changed my life”
Patient Arbaugh said in the Neuralink video that he was able to leave the hospital just one day after the implant was inserted. At first he only thought about moving the cursor – until the implant system finally implemented his thoughts.
“There is still a lot to do, but it has already changed my life,” Arbaugh continued. Regarding the reason for participating in the project, he said: “I decided to do it because I wanted to be part of something that I think will change the world.”
The size of five coins stacked on top of each other
The Neuralink implants are about the size of five coins stacked on top of each other. In the future, they will help people with neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), but will also fundamentally enable a direct connection between the brain and computers and artificial intelligence, thereby increasing human abilities.
For test purposes, the implant had previously been inserted into a macaque, which was able to play the video game “Pong” without a joystick, mouse or keyboard.
Giving paralyzed people their mobility back
Neuralink, based in Fremont, California, was founded in 2016. According to data service provider Pitchbook, it had more than 400 employees in 2023. In August and November last year, the company collected investments totaling $323 million (€298 million) in two tranches.
Neuralink points to a wide range of possible uses for its computer chips: In the future, it wants to use its implants to restore mobility to paralyzed people, make blind people see again and cure mental illnesses such as depression.
Other companies also say they are already well advanced in developing similar implants.