Neuralink, Elon Musk's brain-chip startup, recently live-streamed its first patient who was implanted with a chip and playing online chess. The patient, Noland Arbaugh, 29 years old and paralyzed below the shoulder due to a diving accident, controlled his laptop's cursor using the Neuralink device.
Arbaugh, who received the implant in January, could manipulate a computer mouse with his thoughts, as confirmed by Musk in a previous statement. In a video streamed on Musk's social media platform X, Arbaugh described the implant procedure as "super easy" and noted his rapid recovery, experiencing no cognitive impairments.
Expressing gratitude for the regained ability to play video games like Civilization VI, Arbaugh shared his excitement about playing for eight consecutive hours.
Despite this achievement, Kip Ludwig, former program director for neural engineering at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, tempered enthusiasm by stating that what Neuralink demonstrated was not a "breakthrough."
Ludwig emphasized that it is still early post-implantation and both Neuralink and the subjects have much to learn to maximize control over the interface. However, he acknowledged the positive impact on patients, indicating that interfacing with a computer in this manner was previously unattainable.
Recently, Reuters reported issues with record-keeping and quality controls for animal experiments at Neuralink, following FDA inspections. This revelation comes less than a month after the startup announced clearance for human brain implant testing. Neuralink did not respond to inquiries regarding the FDA's inspection.
Paraphrasing text from "Investing" all rights reserved by the original author.
