A paralyzed man is ready to play chess with the assistance of a chip produced by Neuralink and implanted into his mind. A video posted on Wednesday night on the social media platform X exhibiting the outstanding achievement has been seen over 70 million instances.

In January of this yr, the 29-year-old Noland Arbaugh turned the first-ever particular person to obtain a chip implant from Neuralink, Elon Musk’s startup that’s creating know-how for folks with paralysis to have the ability to talk with computer systems.

In Wednesday’s nine-minute livestream on Musk’s platform X, Arbaugh defined that he acquired absolutely paralyzed under his shoulders, shedding all feeling in his physique, legs and arms, following a diving accident eight years in the past the place he dislocated his C4 and C5 spinal vertebrae.

Sitting behind a laptop computer wirelessly related to the Neuralink chip, Arbaugh reveals that he’s able to “telepathically” transferring the cursor on his laptop display, which is exhibiting a Chess.com chessboard. He is enjoying a recreation on our server by pure mind management, and can also be in a position to management music.

https://t.co/OMIeGGjYtG

— Neuralink (@neuralink) March 20, 2024

In the video, Arbaugh says utilizing the Neuralink implant seems like utilizing “the Force” from the Star Wars franchise. Just by staring someplace on the display, he can place the cursor wherever he needs. He additionally revealed that the chip allowed him to play the online game Civilization VI for eight hours straight.

On January 29 of this yr, Neuralink’s billionaire founder Elon Musk revealed on his platform X that the primary human had acquired a chip implant on the day prior and was recovering properly, including: “Initial results show promising neuron spike detection.” Musk known as his first Neuralink product Telepathy, first utilized by, as is now revealed, Arbaugh.

In September final yr, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had given the corporate clearance to hold out the primary trial of its implant on people. Before, Neuralink examined their gadgets on monkeys, pigs and different animals, which led to criticism from teams such because the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

Who’s subsequent? @MagnusCarlsen pic.twitter.com/ILqTuIke42

— Neuralink (@neuralink) March 21, 2024

As The Wall Street Journal identified, transferring a pc cursor is not a giant technical leap for brain-computer interfaces: “An older brain chip first implanted in a human in 2004 also helped a paralyzed person move a cursor with only their thoughts.”

That older chip, nevertheless, wanted to be connected to a tool on the skin of the mind to transmit knowledge which required wires protruding by way of the pores and skin. Neuralink’s wi-fi connection between the chip and the laptop computer appears to be notably particular.

“It’s not perfect,” Arbaugh admitted on the finish of the video. “I would say that we have run into some issues. I don’t want people to think that it is the end of the journey, there’s still a lot of work to be done, but it has already changed my life.”

… there’s nonetheless a whole lot of work to be completed, nevertheless it has already modified my life.

—Noland Arbaugh