First brain-chip patient plays online chess, Musk’s firm reveal

Elon Musk’s brain-chip company Neuralink has demonstrated its initial success with a patient controlling a computer cursor through an implanted device.

During a nine-minute livestream on X, previously known as Twitter, Noland Arbaugh utilized the cursor to engage in online chess.

Mr. Arbaugh, who became paralyzed below the shoulders following a diving accident, underwent the chip implant procedure in January.

The objective of the company is to establish connections between human brains and computers, aiming to address intricate neurological conditions.

“The surgery was super easy,” Mr Arbaugh said during the presentation.

Mr Arbaugh also said that he had used the brain implant to play the video game Civilization VI. Neuralink gave him “the ability to do that again and played for eight hours straight”, he said.

However, Mr Arbaugh said the new technology was not perfect and they “have run into some issues”.

Neuralink’s device, approximately the size of a one-pound coin, is surgically implanted into the skull, featuring microscopic wires capable of detecting neuron activity and transmitting wireless signals to a receiving unit.

The company has conducted trials in pigs and asserted that monkeys can play a basic version of the video game Pong.

In May 2023, Neuralink obtained approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct human trials with the chip.

Neuralink is just one of many companies and academic institutions working to refine and eventually commercialize this technology. For instance, the École Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne, Switzerland, has successfully enabled Gert-Jan Oskam, who is paralyzed, to walk merely by thinking about the movements involved.

This achievement was made possible by electronic implants placed on Mr. Oskam’s brain and spine, wirelessly transmitting his thoughts to his legs and feet. Details of this breakthrough were published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature last year.

The human brain comprises approximately 86 billion neurons, nerve cells connected to each other via synapses. Whenever we desire to move, sense, or think, a minuscule electrical impulse is generated and rapidly transmitted from one neuron to another.

Scientists have developed devices capable of detecting some of these signals, either through a non-invasive cap placed on the head or wires implanted directly into the brain.

This technology, known as a brain-computer interface (BCI), currently attracts significant research funding.

Brain-chipChessMuskNeuralink