According to Bloomberg, thousands of people have already expressed interest in receiving Neuralink brain implants.
In May 2023, American neurotechnology company Neuralink, founded by Elon Musk, received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the first clinical trial of its technology in humans.
After receiving a clean bill from the US FDA, Elon Musk’s startup is gearing up to begin human trials in the coming months. A clinical trial of Neuralink’s brain implant requires volunteers to have a piece of their skull replaced by a surgeon with a brain chip that will remain there for years.
The brain chip reads and analyzes the person’s brain activity and even transfers the information wirelessly to a nearby laptop or tablet
In September, Neuralink opened enrollment for a trial of an implantable wireless brain computer interface (BCI). The company is looking for people with quadriplegia (paralysis of the arms and legs) due to a cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
The goal is to create a device that allows paralyzed people to communicate or play games using only their thoughts.
To date, Neuralink has not yet implanted its devices in humans, but plans to operate on 11 people next year and more than 22 thousand by 2030. According to Bloomberg, many more people may be interested.
Neuralink operates as a neurotechnology company and is developing a brain-computer interface, or BCI, to collect brain signals. BCI will also function to analyze the data and translate it into commands to control an external device.
In the Bloomberg article, author Ashlee Vance, who also happens to be Elon Musk’s biographer, said he has visited Neuralink’s facilities ten times in three years. He also said the company has not yet implanted its device in a human brain. However, it plans to start the process at 11 people next year and more than 22,000 by 2030.