Elon Musk stated on the social media platform X on Monday that the primary human affected person has obtained a brain implant developed by his company Neuralink.

After years of delays, Neuralink began recruiting sufferers for a scientific trial within the fall after receiving approval from the US Food and Drug Administration and a hospital ethics board. The firm is creating a tool known as a brain-computer interface.

Musk has stated that Neuralink’s final aim is to “achieve a symbiosis with artificial intelligence,” however for now he’s beginning with a much more modest intention: permitting paralyzed individuals to manage a cursor or keyboard with their brains. In a brochure about the study, Neuralink says it’s recruiting contributors with quadriplegia, or paralysis in all 4 limbs, because of cervical spinal twine harm or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and which can be not less than 22 years previous. It anticipates the examine will take six years to finish.

In its brochure, the corporate says it should use a surgical robotic it developed to position the implant right into a area of the mind that controls motion intention. Once in place, the coin-sized gadget is designed to document and transmit mind indicators wirelessly to an app that decodes these indicators.

In his publish on Monday, Musk added that the affected person was “recovering well” and that “initial results show promising neuron spike detection.” But it could possibly be months earlier than we all know whether or not the affected person can efficiently use the implant to manage a pc or different gadget. The particular person must get well from surgical procedure, and coaching somebody to make use of a BCI can take a number of weeks.

The Neuralink affected person is much from the primary to get a BCI. A number of dozen individuals around the globe have been outfitted with the gadgets as a part of analysis research. The first, Matt Nagle, did so in 2004. Over the years, these methods have allowed paralyzed individuals to play video video games, transfer robotic arms, and write emails utilizing simply their ideas.

Until just lately, BCIs have been largely pursued by tutorial labs. They required clunky setups utilizing thick cables that made them impractical to make use of at residence. Neuralink’s system is designed to be wi-fi and data neural exercise via greater than 1,000 electrodes distributed throughout 64 threads, every thinner than a human hair. The commonest gadget utilized in BCI analysis, the Utah array, data from 100 electrodes.

The firm has additionally been beset by controversy, notably round its remedy of analysis animals. A WIRED investigation in September detailed how a few of its monkeys died because of the corporate’s mind implant testing. The firm is reportedly dealing with a federal investigation associated to its remedy of animal topics. And this month, a Reuters report revealed that Neuralink was fined for violating US Department of Transportation guidelines relating to the motion of hazardous supplies.

Since Neuralink’s founding in 2016, a handful of companies have emerged to commercialize these methods. One competitor, New York–based mostly Synchron, has not solely beat Neuralink to implanting its BCI in individuals however has proven that its gadget is protected and permits sufferers with paralysis to browse the online and do on-line procuring and banking whereas at residence.

Neuralink has not specified the place the trial is happening or what number of sufferers will probably be included. The firm has arrange a patient registry for potential contributors to be taught whether or not they qualify for the examine. It has not registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, a central database with info on scientific research funded or sponsored by trade and authorities companies.

Right now, the one particulars out there on the Neuralink surgical procedure come from a single Musk tweet. While it could not transfer the needle on merging people with AI, it could characterize a vital milestone for a promising gadget.