Elon Musk’s Neuralink Prepares To Implant Second Human Patient
What "cybernetic superpowers" did Elon Musk claim Neuralink could provide?
Elon Musk claimed that Neuralink could provide "cybernetic superpowers" such as allowing amputees to move prosthetic limbs faster than they ever could with their original limbs. He also suggested that users would be able to control Tesla's humanoid robot, Optimus, with their thoughts.
When is Neuralink planning to implant its brain chip in a second patient?
Neuralink, Elon Musk's brain implant company, plans to implant its brain chip in a second patient within the next week or so5. This comes despite hardware problems encountered with the first patient, whose device partially detached from the brain a few weeks after surgery. Neuralink is taking steps to reduce the risk of implant retraction in the future, including sculpting the skull to help the device sit better and inserting threads deeper into the brain4.
What complications occurred with Neuralink's first human implant?
Neuralink's first human implant encountered hardware problems as the device partially detached from the brain a few weeks after surgery5. Some of the device's electrode-studded threads started retracting from the brain tissue, causing it to transmit less data and resulting in a reduction in bits-per-second, a measure of the speed and accuracy of the patient's ability to control a computer cursor by thinking.