Elon Musk fans 'terrified' after first person receives Neuralink brain chip
ELON Musk has divided fans after confirming his controversial “brain microchip” has finally been implanted in the first human.
According to Musk, the Neuralink technology will “enable someone with paralysis to use a smartphone with their mind faster than someone using their thumbs.”
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Neuralink's mission is to “restore autonomy” to individuals with “unmet medical needs,” with a vision to “unlock human potential” in the future, the company said.
It received FDA approval for its first human clinical trial in May, with the company saying it initially wanted to test on 10 people — that number has since changed to six.
“The first human received an implant from @Neuralink yesterday and is recovering well,” Musk said wrote on X, formerly known as Tweeton Monday.
“Initial results show promising neuron spike detection.”
The brain chip has a thousand electrodes and hopes to help people perform computer functions wirelessly by simply thinking through a 'think-and-click' mechanism.
Neuralink, the startup founded by Musk in 2016, said last month it was looking for paralyzed people under the age of 40 to participate in the human trials.
People have divided reactions to the news, with some seeing the progress as ominous and others as hopeful.
“The negative potential of this makes me very uncomfortable,” someone wrote on X.
“I'm terrified just thinking about it,” said another.
Someone else replied: “Elon can turn off this fear with a chip in your brain.”
“Matrix time,” said another, referring to the iconic dystopian film.
“The first cyborg is born,” another shared.
Meanwhile, others were amazed by the progress and are curious to see how it stands in history.
“Good job Neuralink and Elon!! This could very well be an important moment in history,” one user wrote.
“This is great news, we are expanding to the last two borders. Space and spirit, I can't wait for the next company lecture. So excited!” shared another.
Some were thirsty for more information about human trial development.
“This is crazy, holy f**k. I can't wait to get more information. Can you share more about what you're treating?” one follower asked.
“I was wondering what the neuron spikes were. Good to hear,” wrote another.
Neuralink received FDA approval to launch its first human clinical trial in May last year.
“This is the result of incredible work by the Neuralink team in close collaboration with the FDA and represents an important first step that will allow our technology to one day help many people,” the company said. said at the time.
In a speech at the company's headquarters in December, Musk expressed his concerns and his plan for caution going forward.
“We want to be extremely careful and make sure it will work before we put a device in a human,” he said.
“Progress may seem painfully slow at first, especially as it applies to humans, but we are committed to bringing it to scale in parallel.”
Neuralink announced the search for a human test subject on November 21 via X a short video describing what the “PRIME” study would entail.
The study, which stands for “Precise Robotically IMplanted brain-computer InterfacE,” asked people “living with quadriplegia due to spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)” to consider being the first to receive the implant.
CONTROVERSIAL TESTING
In April 2021, Neuralink showed a macaque known as Pager with one of the chips playing Pong.
The animal was seen manually using a joystick and then operating it only with its mind through a wireless connection to the chip.
Neuralink reportedly implanted Bluetooth chips in the brains of several monkeys to see if they could communicate with computers through a small receiver.
Some test subjects are believed to have “suffered infections from the implanted electrodes placed in their brains,” the company said.
According to a report last December, about 1,500 animals – including more than 280 sheep, pigs and monkeys – have died as a result of Neuralink testing since 2018.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine filed a lawsuit, claiming there was evidence that macaques used in previous studies had been subjected to horrific suffering in 2022.
They claimed the animals were subjected to 'extreme suffering', with one monkey having holes drilled into its skull.
During experiments, 15 of the 23 monkeys are said to have died.
In one case, a monkey was found missing several fingers and toes, possibly caused by self-mutilation, legal documents claimed.
Another case revealed that a female macaque had electrodes implanted in the brain, causing him to experience vomiting, gagging and wheezing.
An autopsy later showed that the monkey had a brain hemorrhage.
Bloody skin infections, collapsing monkeys and other gruesome side effects were also reported in the results, court documents show.
Neuralink conducted its monkey experiments in collaboration with scientists at the University of California, Davis.
“No monkey has died as a result of a Neuralink implant. First, in our early implants, to minimize the risk to healthy monkeys, we chose terminal monkeys (sic) (already almost dead),” Musk replied in a meme on X.
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