Ilon Musk’s Neuralink received approval for trials on implanting chips into people

Neuralink, a neurotechnology company owned by Ilon Musk, announced that it has received approval to conduct clinical trials to implant a chip in the human brain for hands-free computer and phone use.

“We are pleased to announce that we have received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to launch our first human clinical trial,” the company said in a statement posted on its Twitter page.

Recruitment for the clinical trial is not yet open.

The Neuralink startup was created by Musk in July 2016 to bring together leading experts in developing neural interfaces and building robots to implant an almost unlimited number of electrodes into the brain in a fully automated fashion. In the distant future, according to the entrepreneur, such neural interfaces will allow humans to become cyborgs capable of resisting artificial intelligence, as well as help people learn to directly control computers using the power of thought.

Neuralink conducted a chip study on monkeys in February 2021. According to the company, the connection to the chip is through an iPhone. Specialists have studied and deciphered the connection between neural activity and certain actions, it allowed them to reproduce the feedback. Thus, the macaque monkey was taught to move the cursor on the screen without the help of the joystick.

You may be interested: Atlantic killer whales train their cubs to attack boats and yachts