By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
SAN FRANCISCO, USA (Worthy News) – Billionaire Elon Musk says his brain chip firm Neuralink has implanted its device in a human for the first time, despite warnings from health professionals and an ongoing U.S. investigation into its practices.
In a message on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, Tusk added that the patient is “recovering well.”
Neuralink hopes its mind-reading, brain-mimicking computer chips will help people deal with paralysis or other debilitating conditions, including degenerative diseases like ALS.
If the technology functions appropriately, patients could someday use the implant to communicate or access social media by moving cursors and typing with their minds, Musk said.
“Imagine if [the paralyzed late scientist] Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer,” Musk wrote. “That is the goal.”
Yet the announcement came just days after the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) fined Neuralink for not registering itself as a transporter of hazardous material.
While the relatively low fine for a billionaire of just $2,480 surprised observers, the DOT is also looking into the improper packaging of hazardous waste, including Xylene.
DEATH DANGER
That flammable liquid can, with exposure, cause severe symptoms – even death, according to experts.
The controversy comes on top of the Physicians Committee of Responsible Medicine, or PCRM, expressing concerns about Musk’s brain chip venture.
They suggested that implanted devices “like Neuralink’s” risk “problems, including being difficult to repair and having a high potential for severe medical complications in patients.”
PCRM also opposed Neuralink’s research methods on animal welfare grounds.
There were no signs Monday that the battle for the brain and mind would end as Neuralink faces competitors seeking to grab a slice of the lucrative, world-shattering brain chip business.
Neuralink seems to be the best-known firm in what is officially called the “brain-computer interface” or BCI industry due to Musk, who is also CEO of electric car maker Tesla and space venture SpaceX.
BCI is a system that “deciphers brain signals” and translates them into commands for external technologies, according to experts familiar with the process.
OTHER COMPANIES
Besides Neuralink, companies like Synchron, Precision Neuroscience, Paradromics, and Blackrock Neurotech also created systems with these capabilities.
Neuralink began recruiting patients for its first-in-human clinical trial in the fall after it received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct the study in May, officials said.
The in-human clinical trial marks just one step in Neuralink’s eventual path toward commercialization, with more trials and research to follow.
Paradromics is reportedly aiming to launch its first trial with human patients in the first half of this year. Precision Neuroscience carried out its first-in-human clinical study last year.
A patient who received Synchron’s BCI used it to post from CEO Tom Oxley’s then-Twitter account in 2021.
Questions remained Monday about which company would be the first to reach the potentially multi-billion dollar market and who would eventually control the brains and minds of humans.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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