The patient received the implant on Sunday and “is recovering well,” Musk said in a message on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
He added that “preliminary results show a promising increase in the detection of neurons.”
Musk, billionaire businessman and founder of Neuralink, did not provide further details about the patient.
When Neuralink announced in September that it would start recruiting people, it said it was looking for people with quadriplegia due to spinal injuries or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Neuralink republished Musk’s message on social network X, but did not provide further details about the human implant. The company has not responded to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
Neuralink’s device is the size of a large coin and is designed to be implanted in the skull, with ultra-thin wires connected directly to the brain. In its announcement in September, Neuralink said the cables would be surgically connected to the sector of the brain that controls motor function. The initial purpose of the so-called brain interface is to give people the ability to control a computer with thought alone.
In another message on He added that the first users will be people who have lost the use of limbs.
It remains to be seen how this device or other interfaces will eventually work, or whether they will be secure. Tests have been set to collect data on its safety and effectiveness.
Neuralink is one of several companies working on linking the nervous system with computers to help people with brain and other diseases or injuries. There are currently more than 40 brain interface trials underway, according to clinicaltrials.gov.
Source: With information from AP
