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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Ex-president of <keyword id="12199118" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="neuralink" source="Orion">Neuralink</keyword>, <keyword id="13122685" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="max-hodak" source="Orion">Max Hodak</keyword>, said Friday he's invested in rival <keyword id="11908912" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="biotech" source="Orion">biotech</keyword> company <keyword id="13122686" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="synchron" source="Orion">Synchron</keyword>.</li><li>Synchron announced it had got permission from the FDA to begin human testing in July 2021.</li></ul>Max Hodak, cofounder and former president of <keyword id="11897862" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="elon-musk" source="Orion">Elon Musk</keyword>'s biotech company Neuralink, wrote in a <a href="https://maxhodak.com/nonfiction/2022/02/04/synchron.html">blog post</a> Friday that he's invested in a direct rival.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/neuralink-elon-musk-microchips-brains-ai-2021-2">Neuralink</a> is working on a device that it wants to embed in people's <keyword id="12212650" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="brain" source="Orion">brain</keyword>s to monitor and potentially stimulate brain activity. The device comprises a microchip and wires that would be threaded through a patient's skull into the outer layer of the brain.The company has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-neuralink-hopes-to-start-human-testing-2022-2021-12">yet to begin human testing</a>.Meanwhile, rival firm Synchron is also developing a <keyword id="13122687" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="neural-interface" source="Orion">neural interface</keyword> device but, rather than being implanted inside the skull, it accesses the brain through blood vessels. In his blog post, Hodak called this an "elegant idea" and said he has been serving as an advisor to Synchron.Synchron announced in July 2021 it had got the green light from the Food and Drug Administration to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/synchron-brain-computer-chip-implant-elon-musk-neuralink-human-trial-2021-7">begin human trials for its device.</a> It <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211222005557/en/Synchron-Announces-First-Direct-Thought-Tweet-%E2%80%9CHello-World%E2%80%9D-Using-an-Implantable-Brain-Computer-Interface">announced</a> in December that one of its human test patients, a man with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – a neurodegenerative disease also known as Lou Gehrig's disease – had used the device implanted in his brain to send a Tweet that said: "Hello World."Hodak did not say how much money he'd invested in Synchron."I really don't want this to be construed as a knock on Neuralink," Hodak, who <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/max-hodak-cofounder-president-elon-musk-neuralink-has-left-company-2021-5">departed Neuralink in April 2021</a>, told <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-05/both-startups-are-making-devices-that-they-ll-implant-in-human-brains?srnd=technology-vp">Bloomberg</a> in an email."I'm sure they will also get into humans soon too," Hodak told Bloomberg, adding he has not sold any of his stock in Neuralink.Hodak did not immediately respond when contacted by Insider outside of normal working hours.Neural interface technology has potential medical applications such as allowing paralyzed people to operate prostheses and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-neuralink-hopes-to-start-human-testing-2022-2021-12">devices with their minds</a>, as well as studying and treating neurological conditions.

The former president of Elon Musk's Neuralink has invested in the rival company that beat it to human trials

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="4345587" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="neuralink">Neuralink</keyword> cofounder <keyword id="7877799" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Max-Hodak">Max Hodak</keyword> said on Saturday he left the company "a few weeks ago."</li><li>"I learned a ton there and remain a huge cheerleader for the company!" Hodak said on Twitter.</li><li>Founded in 2016, Neuralink has been building and testing a brain implant. </li></ul><keyword id="6355315" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="elon-musk">Elon Musk</keyword>'s Neuralink cofounder Max Hodak on Saturday said he left the company a few weeks ago."I am no longer at Neuralink (as of a few weeks ago). I learned a ton there and remain a huge cheerleader for the company! Onward to new things," Hodak, who was also president, <a href="https://twitter.com/max_hodak/status/1388620553569726467?s=20">said on Twitter</a>. Neuralink has been working on brain implants, along with the robotics needed to implant them. The company said its technology, which has been tested on monkeys, will be able to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/neuralink-elon-musk-microchips-brains-ai-2021-2#elon-musk-has-boasted-multiple-times-that-the-company-has-put-the-chip-in-a-monkey-though-neuroscientists-arent-that-blown-away-by-this-6">record or stimulate</a> brain activity. Hodak on Saturday didn't say why he left the company. But he replied to another user who said it seemed "too early" for Hodak to leave, as Neuralink doesn't have a "single product on the market." Hodak <a href="https://twitter.com/max_hodak/status/1388625643470934016?s=20">said</a>, "same."Insider has reached out to Hodak and Neuralink for comment.Hodak and Musk appeared together in 2019 to announce that Neuralink had <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-neuralink-brain-microchip-tested-on-monkeys-2019-7">implanted a chip</a> into a monkey, allowing it to control a computer with its brain.During the announcement, Musk said a monkey had "been able to control a computer" using the chip. Hodak <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/neuralink-elon-musk-microchips-brains-ai-2021-2#elon-musk-has-boasted-multiple-times-that-the-company-has-put-the-chip-in-a-monkey-though-neuroscientists-arent-that-blown-away-by-this-6">said:</a> "I didn't realize we were running that result today, but there it goes."Musk in February said a monkey with the implant could now <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-neuralink-monkey-plays-video-games-using-his-mind-2021-2">play a video game</a>. Monkeys have been able to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-neuralink-not-first-scientists-monkey-control-computer-mind-2021-4">control computer cursors</a> with their brains since 2002, scientists told Insider afterwards. Founded in 2016, the company is based in Fremont, California. Its filings with the California secretary of state list Musk as CEO, but don't include Hodak's name. Hodak studied biomedical engineering at Duke University, according to his LinkedIn profile.In early April, Hodak said someone could <a href="https://twitter.com/max_hodak/status/1378572465610256385?lang=en">"probably build"</a> a real-world Jurassic Park, "if we wanted to."A Twitter user on Saturday asked him: "What's next?" "Not Jurassic Park," Hodak <a href="https://twitter.com/max_hodak/status/1388622489270374400?s=20">replied</a>.

Max Hodak, the cofounder of Elon Musk's Neuralink, departed the company 'a few weeks ago'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Elon Musk's brain-computer interface company, Neuralink, has implanted into a first human patient.</li><li>Musk says the goal is for us all to control our phones and computers with our minds.</li></ul><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a> announced his brain interface company, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/neuralink-will-take-25-minutes-insert-brain-elon-musk-reportedly-2023-11">Neuralink</a>, implanted its first human brain chip last week. The product is called "telepathy.""Enables control of your phone or computer, and through them almost any device, just by thinking," Musk said on X, the social media platform he owns, which is formerly and better known as Twitter.Given all the breathless discourse about this being a "first" in human brain implantation, you'd be forgiven for assuming Musk is far ahead of the competition.But surgically implanted <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/brain-computer-interface-what-is-it-how-does-it-work-2022-9">brain-computer interface devices, or BCIs</a>, have been going into people's heads for about twenty years now, ever since a pioneering surgery took place in Rhode Island in 2004. Since then, multiple companies have popped up with increasingly <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/brain-computer-chip-link-interface-neurotech-human-trial-2022-8">elegant and useful BCIs</a>, arguably well ahead of where Neuralink stands today with a single, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-claims-first-human-patient-received-neuralink-implant-2024-1">first surgery</a>.Here's how Musk's stiffest competition stacks up right now:<h2>1. Blackrock</h2><div type="image" title="blackrock electrode array, looks like tiny comb, smaller than thumbnail" height="1283" width="706" msid="107534537" hostid="261"></div>Today, most people who have a BCI implanted in their head have a Blackrock device. Precise numbers are hard to come by, but the best evidence suggests there are fewer than 50 people worldwide with a BCI implanted in their skull. About 40 of those are Blackrock products.Blackrock Neurotech (not to be confused with the completely unrelated Blackrock investment firm) has been at this for a while. Headquartered in Utah, the company was founded in 2008.For now, all implanted BCIs are a way for people with severe forms of paralysis to regain independence, using their thoughts to control devices and access the internet.A couple of people with Blackrock implants can use their BCI to drive a car. Others have restored a sense of touch. But executives in this space say that in the future, applications for BCIs could look very different. Blackrock co-founder Florian Solzbacher has said the revolutionary tech may one day be used by first responders, military, or other able-bodied people looking to win a competitive edge or some extra convenience.Blackrock CEO Marcus Gerhardt told Business Insider that, while still a ways off, "the possibility of breaking that barrier will come maybe sooner than people out there believe."<h2>2. BrainGate</h2><div type="image" title="pat bennett with 2 probes on head, wires coming out, smiling" height="1400" width="2100" msid="107534538" hostid="261"></div>BrainGate pioneered the very first implanted BCI for human use in 2004, building on research that started at Brown University in the late 1990s. The academic consortium's current device is typically about "the size of a baby aspirin," and is manufactured by Blackrock.Each patient's implant consists of two or more devices, each with up to 100 thinner-than-hair electrodes. It's implanted on the surface of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/watch-how-a-thought-travels-through-the-brain-2018-1">the brain</a>, atop the cortex, in areas responsible for limb movements or speech.The very first BrainGate device — which was the first-ever implanted BCI — was put into the head of Matthew Nagle, a man who was paralyzed from the neck down in a stabbing attack. Nagle became a formidable Pong video game player using his BCI, but died in 2007 after developing sepsis (unrelated to the trial.) Three more patients had the same first-generation BrainGate BCI implanted from 2004-2009."You don't necessarily read as much about them and they don't tend to hog the public limelight, but that's because they're focused on doing fundamental and profound research in this space," Gerhardt said of the BrainGate consortium.BrainGate is now running a clinical trial of their second generation BCI, a device for tetraplegics like Nagle called BrainGate2. The <a target="_blank" href="https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT00912041">trial</a>, ongoing since 2009, is expected to end in 2038. So far, there are 15 people with BrainGate2 devices."Each amazing participant in the trial contributes an extraordinary amount to the field, often engaging in the trials with us for years and providing feedback on how these types of implantable BCIs will help other people with paralysis," BrainGate clinical trial lead Dr. Leigh Hochberg told Business Insider in an email.<h2>3. Synchron</h2><div type="image" title="Synchron CEO and founder Thomas Oxley holding the company's stentrode." height="1400" width="2100" msid="107534540" hostid="261"></div>Brooklyn-based <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/synchron-brain-computer-chip-implant-elon-musk-neuralink-human-trial-2021-7">Synchron</a> has developed one of the tiniest, most minimally invasive BCIs, and implanted it successfully into several people around the world, including patients in Australia (2020) and the US (2022). Instead of being plopped on top of the brain's grey matter, like many other BCI devices, Synchron's stentrode sits inside of blood vessels in a person's head.This BCI is funneled into the head via a tiny metallic, mesh stent. In much the same way that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/health/conditions-symptoms/what-is-a-stent">heart disease patients often use stents</a> to pry open blocked arteries near their hearts, Synchron implants a small scaffolding of electrodes into key blood vessels at the top of the skull near our motor cortex, to transmit thoughts into actions. A pacemaker-like unit in the chest then translates those signals from the brain wirelessly to a computer or device.In 2022, Musk — then reportedly frustrated by Neuralink's slow pace of development — reached out to Synchron's CEO, neurosurgeon Thomas Oxley, about investing in the company, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/musk-approaches-brain-chip-startup-synchron-about-deal-amid-neuralink-delays-2022-08-19/">Reuters</a> reported. And Musk's co-founder, former Neuralink president Max Hodak, is a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-ex-neuralink-president-invests-rival-synchron-brain-biotech-2022-2">Synchron</a> investor. Though Hodak once told <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-05/both-startups-are-making-devices-that-they-ll-implant-in-human-brains?srnd=technology-vp">Bloomberg</a> he didn't want his investment in a Neuralink rival to be seen as a "knock" on his former company."I'm sure they will also get into humans soon," he said.<h2>4. Academic institutions around the globe</h2><div type="image" title="Gert Jan sitting, with his antenna cap on that communicates with his brain impants. Left: Gert Jan training to walk" height="600" width="1200" msid="107534541" hostid="261"></div>Several other universities are also leading the BCI charge, with one-off research surgeries. Some are visible plugs that sit on top of people's heads and require a wired hookup to a computer to read brain signals. At least one man uses a backpack to transmit signals from two BCI electrode grids inside his head to another implant in his spine, helping him walk.Canadian Ann Johnson, unable to speak for nearly 20 years after a stroke, is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/like-hearing-an-old-friend-woman-speaks-for-first-time-since-stroke-thanks-to-ai-powered-tech-1.6537335">regaining her ability to talk</a> with an implanted BCI from the University of California, San Francisco. Dutchman <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/paralyzed-man-used-mind-reading-tech-to-walk-again-2023-5">Gert-Jan Oksam is the guy with a backpack who can walk</a> again after a biking accident hit his spinal cord, thanks to researchers at Lausanne University in Switzerland."I'm not walking to the grocery market yet, but I can for sure stand way better now," Oksam told reporters during a press conference in May."It's still hard to walk," he said. "But I'm very happy I've achieved what I achieved."<h2>What Neuralink has to prove</h2><div type="image" title="neuralink's BCI - thumb sized button" height="579" width="1082" msid="107534542" hostid="261"></div>What Neuralink has done so far is merely a first step in pulling off an operational BCI. The California–based company put its "cosmetically invisible" device inside of a person's brain in late January. Musk has told reporters that he expects this first patient will be able to control a computer or phone using only their mind in about a week."Let Elon be Elon, and he can help us envision the future and challenge us to step outside our framework and limiting constructs and think about what might be possible one day," Gerhardt, the Blackrock CEO, said. "At the end of the day, the devil will be in the details, and we'll just have to see."Fundamentally, Neuralink's technology isn't that different from Blackrock's. Instead of looking like a tiny comb, though, the Neuralink device has over 1,000 fine, hair-like electrodes distributed in 64 threads, likely a more formidable surgical challenge.(Neuralink study details, posted <a target="_blank" href="https://neuralink.com/pdfs/PRIME-Study-Brochure.pdf">online</a>, say the company has designed a surgery robot "to reliably and efficiently insert the threads of the N1 Implant into the appropriate region of the brain." It's unclear how much of Neuralink's surgery procedure is done by a human.)The next challenge is to prove this device can help someone regain some independence. For example, can this BCI help a person with ALS (or, Locked-in Syndrome) shop online?"Initial users will be those who have lost the use of their limbs," Musk said on X. "Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer. That is the goal."That goal isn't out of the question, but it will take some years, and some level of training. We should know a little more within the next few days or weeks about how well the first Neuralink patient is recovering."How we think, how we feel, how we experience — this is much more than just an engineering problem," neuroscientist Anil Seth recently <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0h81tcs">told the BBC</a>. "The kind of strategy that Musk has found so successful in building electric cars or rockets, I don't think it transfers smoothly over to this domain."Correction: Matthew Nagle's pioneering surgery was performed in <a target="_blank" href="http://www.rimed.org/rimedicaljournal/2013/02/2013-02-47-books.pdf">Rhode Island</a>, not Massachusetts. This story has been corrected.

Neuralink is less advanced than these 4 brain-computer devices. See Elon Musk's competition.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Elon Musk told Neuralink staff he's frustrated with the company's slow progress, Reuters reported.</li><li>Musk, a Neuralink cofounder, recently approached rival Synchron about a deal, Reuters said.</li></ul>Elon Musk is reportedly growing frustrated with slow progress at <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/neuralink-elon-musk-microchips-brains-ai-2021-2">Neuralink</a>, his biotech company, which is seeking to implant microchips in people's brains.Four current and former Neuralink employees told <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/musk-approaches-brain-chip-startup-synchron-about-deal-amid-neuralink-delays-2022-08-19/">Reuters</a> that Musk had expressed frustration to staff over slow progress. Musk recently approached the CEO of rival firm Synchron about a potential deal, per Reuters.Neuralink and Synchron are developing brain interface technology that links brain activity to computer systems. Synchron this year <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/synchron-beats-elon-musk-neuralink-us-human-trials-brain-implant-2022-7?r=US&amp;IR=T">beat Neuralink to become the first to conduct human trials</a> of its tech, which began in July, whereas Neuralink has yet to start testing in humans.Two of the four sources cited by Reuters said Musk didn't communicate his frustration about slow progress to Synchron's CEO when he reached out about a potential deal. Reuters said it wasn't clear what a deal would look like or whether it would involve collaboration between the two companies.Neuralink, Musk, and Synchron didn't immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment when contacted outside usual US working hours.Musk originally said human trials of Neuralink devices would begin as early as 2020. He most recently said <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-neuralink-hopes-to-start-human-testing-2022-2021-12?r=US&amp;IR=T">Neuralink hoped to begin human trials by the end of 2022</a>.Neuralink announced last year it's working towards giving <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-neuralink-brain-chips-series-c-funding-google-ventures-2021-7?r=US&amp;IR=T">quadriplegic people the ability to control a cursor on a computer screen</a> via the company's brain chip, as a first application of its technology.Musk is one of just <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-brain-chip-company-neuralink-cofounder-paul-merolla-leaves-2022-7?r=US&amp;IR=T">two of the eight Neuralink cofounders who are still at the company</a>. One of those cofounders, ex-president Max Hodak, announced in February he was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-ex-neuralink-president-invests-rival-synchron-brain-biotech-2022-2?r=US&amp;IR=T">investing in Synchron</a>. Musk <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1561608534629965826">tweeted</a> in the early hours of Monday to say Neuralink would give a "progress update show and tell" on October 31.Do you work at Neuralink or Synchron? Got a tip? Contact this reporter at ihamilton@insider.com or iahamilton@protonmail.com. Never use a work email.

Elon Musk told staff at his brain-chip company Neuralink he's frustrated with their slow progress, report says

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="12199118" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="neuralink" source="Orion">Neuralink</keyword> cofounder <keyword id="14508378" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="paul-merolla" source="Orion">Paul Merolla</keyword> announced he has left the company in a blog post.</li><li>Merolla said he was leaving to pursue a new project which is "still in stealth."</li></ul><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/neuralink-elon-musk-microchips-brains-ai-2021-2?r=US&amp;IR=T">Neuralink</a>, <keyword id="11897862" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="elon-musk" source="Orion">Elon Musk</keyword>'s <keyword id="14508377" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="neurotechnology" source="Orion">neurotechnology</keyword> company which wants to put AI-enabled computer <keyword id="12002671" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="chips" source="Orion">chips</keyword> into people's <keyword id="12688584" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="brains" source="Orion">brains</keyword>, has lost another of its founding members.<a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/neuralink-co-founder-departs-musk-backed-startup-sources-2022-07-19/">Reuters first reported</a> Neuralink cofounder Paul Merolla had departed in recent weeks.Merolla then confirmed this posts on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/paulmerolla_june-3rd-2022off-to-a-new-adventure-activity-6955403938179235840-CRuf?utm_source=linkedin_share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop_web">LinkedIn</a> and his <a href="http://paulmerolla.com/index.html">personal website</a>, saying he had left the company on June 3.He said he had decided to leave Neuralink to pursue a new project which is "still in stealth." Merolla said it was a "difficult decision" to leave the company he helped found."I hope I get a chance to work with Neuralink again in some capacity, and I look forward to seeing our work improve the lives of patients who suffer from brain injury," he wrote.Two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters Neuralink has now lost six out of eight founding members, leaving just Musk and engineer Dongjin "DJ" Seo.Neuralink president <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/max-hodak-cofounder-president-elon-musk-neuralink-has-left-company-2021-5?r=US&amp;IR=T">Max Hodak left the company</a> in May 2021, and in February 2022 <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-ex-neuralink-president-invests-rival-synchron-brain-biotech-2022-2?r=US&amp;IR=T">invested in rival neurotechnology startup Synchron</a>.Synchron has beaten Neuralink to human trials. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/synchron-brain-computer-chip-implant-elon-musk-neuralink-human-trial-2021-7?r=US&amp;IR=T">It received the greenlight</a> for human testing from the Federal Drug Administration in July 2021, and announced this week it <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/synchron-beats-elon-musk-neuralink-us-human-trials-brain-implant-2022-7?r=US&amp;IR=T">implanted its first device into a US patient</a>.Neuralink is working to develop an <keyword id="11899182" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ai" source="Orion">AI</keyword> chip that could be implanted in a person's skull with electrodes fanning out into the brain. These electrodes would be able to monitor and potentially stimulate brain activity.The company has said the first use case it's working towards is allowing <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-neuralink-brain-chips-series-c-funding-google-ventures-2021-7?r=US&amp;IR=T">quadriplegic people to control digital devices with their minds</a>.Musk has touted more far-fetched future applications for the technology, saying he believes it could facilitate "symbiosis" between humans and artificial intelligence.Neuralink has yet to begin human trials. Musk said during a live interview in December 2021 <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-neuralink-hopes-to-start-human-testing-2022-2021-12?r=US&amp;IR=T">the company hopes to begin human testing in 2022</a>. He previously gave <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/16/20697123/elon-musk-neuralink-brain-reading-thread-robot">2020</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-predicts-neuralink-chip-human-brain-trials-possible-2021-2021-2?r=US&amp;IR=T">2021</a> as years when the company could begin human trials.Neuralink and Merolla did not respond when contacted by Insider outside of usual US working hours.

A Neuralink cofounder left Elon Musk's brain-chip company, leaving it with just 2 of its 8 founding members

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="13122686" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="synchron" source="Orion">Synchron</keyword> implanted its first device into a US patient on July 6 in New York.</li><li>The chip is designed to allow patients with severe paralysis to communicate using their thoughts.</li></ul>Synchron, a brain-computer interface startup, reportedly implanted its first device in a US patient earlier this month — overtaking <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/neuralink-elon-musk-microchips-brains-ai-2021-2#one-neuroscientist-told-insider-there-are-big-ethical-problems-with-the-idea-of-performing-brain-surgery-for-anything-other-than-essential-treatment-17">Elon Musk's Neuralink</a> for the third time.The startup implanted a 1.5-inch device into the brain of an ALS patient at Mount Sinai West medical center in New York on July 6, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-18/brain-computer-interface-company-implants-new-type-of-device?srnd=premium&amp;sref=LspfQlRv">Bloomberg first reported.</a> A spokesperson from Synchron did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The purpose of the device is to allow the patient to communicate — even after they have lost the ability to move — by using their thoughts to send emails and texts. Bloomberg reported that Synchron has already implanted the device in four patients in Australia who have been able to use the <keyword id="13017302" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="brain-implant" source="Orion">brain implant</keyword> to send messages on WhatsApp and shop online.Last year, the Australia-based startup received <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/synchron-brain-computer-chip-implant-elon-musk-neuralink-human-trial-2021-7?r=US&amp;IR=T">permission</a> from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin human trials on six US patients who have been severly paralyzed. In 2019, the company <a href="https://www.fiercebiotech.com/medtech/synchron-kicks-off-clinical-trial-for-brain-machine-interface-without-drilling-skulls">implanted</a> its device into its first human patient in Melbourne, Australia.Meanwhile, <keyword id="12199118" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="neuralink" source="Orion">Neuralink</keyword> has yet to receive FDA approval, though Musk has predicted the could company could begin human trials <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/16/20697123/elon-musk-neuralink-brain-reading-thread-robot">as early as 2020</a>. Most recently, he <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-predicts-neuralink-chip-human-brain-trials-possible-2021-2021-2">said</a> in 2021 that the company planned to start implanting its computer chip in humans by 2022. The announcement came after the billionaire and cofounder <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-neuralink-not-first-scientists-monkey-control-computer-mind-2021-4">shared a video</a> of a monkey playing a video game using only its mind via a Neuralink brain chip.Earlier this year, the cofounder and former president of Neuralink, Max Hodak, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-ex-neuralink-president-invests-rival-synchron-brain-biotech-2022-2?r=US&amp;IR=T">revealed</a> he'd invested in Synchron after leaving Musk's startup.Synchon and Neuralink's implants have similar immediate applications. They are both designed to translate human thoughts into computer commands and could help patients with neurological diseases like Parkinson's or ALS.However, Musk's goals for Neuralink appear to be slightly more ambitious. In the past, Musk has claimed the brain-machine interface could give people telepathic powers and make humans symbiotic with artificial intelligence, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVvmgjBL74w">referring to the device as "a Fitbit in your skull</a>."Neuralink and Synchron's products have several key differences: namely, size and installation. The Australian startup's product can be inserted into a human skull without cutting into it using a catheter that feeds the device through the jugular vein into a blood vessel in the brain. The process requires two separate surgeries.In contrast, Neuralink plans to make a much smaller and more powerful device that would require a portion of the individual's skull to be removed and would be performed using a robot.<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-18/brain-computer-interface-company-implants-new-type-of-device?srnd=premium&amp;sref=LspfQlRv">Read more about the startup on Bloomberg's website.</a>

A brain-computer startup beat Elon Musk's Neuralink to implanting its first device in a US patient

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Elon Musk's neurotechnology company Neuralink pulled the veil back on its ambitions to implant chips in people's brains during a live presentation on Tuesday.</li><li>During a Q&amp;A, Musk surprised his Neuralink colleagues by announcing that the firm had tested its technology on monkeys with some success.</li><li>Musk said "a monkey has been able to control a computer with its brain," although he did not elaborate further on what this involved.</li><li>Neuralink President Max Hodak said he wished the company didn't have to experiment on animals but it's a necessary "step in the process."</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.</a></li></ul>Elon Musk took his colleagues by surprise with an unplanned announcement at a presentation by his secretive neurotechnology company Neuralink on Tuesday.Musk cofounded Neuralink in 2016 and its goal is to create a chip which could enable a "brain-computer interface." And according to Musk, the company's already had some success&#xa0; - with monkeys.During the 90-minute event, Musk and various senior staffers at Neuralink presented the company's ambition - to design a chip capable of being implanted in the human brain which could both receive and transmit signals to the organ.The near-term goal would be to treat various serious brain disorders, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, although ultimately Musk's ambition is to achieve "symbiosis with artificial intelligence."Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-neuralink-implants-link-brains-to-internet-next-year-2019-7?r=US&amp;IR=T">Elon Musk's company Neuralink plans to connect people's brains to the internet by next year using a procedure he claims will be as safe and easy as LASIK eye surgery</a>The current design takes the form of a chip implanted behind the ear, connected to electrode threads about one quarter the width of a human hair, which are threaded into the brain where they can stimulate the neurons or nerve cells.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div>Responding to a question about whether the company had conducted any animal testing, Musk replied that it had carried out tests on rats and monkeys, adding that the company's work with monkeys has been done in conjunction with the University of California. "The results have been very positive," Musk said.Neuralink's senior scientist Philip Sabes said some of the results would be available in a paper "soon," but Musk cut across: "A monkey has been able to control a computer with its brain, just FYI." He did not elaborate as to exactly how said monkey had controlled the computer."I didn't realise we were running that result today, but there it goes," said Neuralink President Max Hodak, laughing. "The monkey's going to come out of the bag," replied Musk.Both Musk and Hodak seemed cognizant of the sensitive nature of animal testing. "We wish that we didn't have to work with animals, we just wish that wasn't a step in the process, but it is," said Hodak. Musk also said that the company hopes to start human testing before the end of next year.You can watch Elon Musk's full Neuralink presentation here:<div></div>

Elon Musk says he's tested his brain microchip on monkeys and it enabled one to control a computer with its mind

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The first implanted brain-computer interface has been turned on in the US.</li><li>It allows a person to control a computer using only their thoughts.</li></ul>Philip O'Keefe does a lot of things around the house these days without lifting a finger.He can turn the lights on and off in any room, pay his bills and shop online, see friends with Zoom, or play a game of solitaire or mah-jongg.And he does it all using only his brain. O'Keefe has <a href="https://www.ninds.nih.gov/amyotrophic-lateral-sclerosis-als-fact-sheet#:~:text=The%20first%20sign%20of%20ALS%20usually%20appears%20in%20the%20hand%20or%20arm%20and%20can%20show%20as%20difficulty%20with%20simple%20tasks%20such%20as%20buttoning%20a%20shirt%2C%20writing%2C%20or%20turning%20a%20key%20in%20a%20lock">amyotrophic lateral sclerosis</a>, also known as ALS, which makes it nearly impossible to use his hands to type or text. But because of a new device implanted inside the blood vessels at <a href="https://www.kenhub.com/en/library/anatomy/superior-sagittal-sinus">the top of his head</a>, he can harness his thoughts to propel a computer's actions: Click, zoom in, move the mouse right, move it left. The device is called a Stentrode, and it's one of the very first implantable mind-reading <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-106118">brain-computer interfaces</a>. O'Keefe, who lives in Melbourne, Australia, is one of fewer than <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-106118">40 people worldwide</a> to have a functioning BCI device implanted into their skulls.<div type="image" title="man with brain computer interface sits at computer - hands on desk, controlling it with his mind" height="1069" width="1908" msid="95426899" hostid="261" sizebytes="72558"></div>To use his device, O'Keefe simply thinks about performing a certain movement with his body. As his brain lights up with electrical signals, the Stentrode — which is wired up in key blood vessels in O'Keefe's brain — reads his thoughts. It sends those neurological signals down a wire into his chest, where a Bluetooth transmitter about the size of a pacemaker wirelessly relays the signals from O'Keefe's brain to a computer. The computer then decodes the signal, turning the idea into a useful action, like a mouse click."Whatever you can do on a computer, I can do," O'Keefe told Insider using his BCI. "At this stage, I am a bit slower than you would be, but there is the ability to do almost anything — if I want to."O'Keefe had his Stentrode device implanted in spring 2020, thanks to Australia's relatively lax, risk-based <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/product-regulation-according-risk">regulation</a> of medical devices. The device arrived stateside this year after six years of regulatory back-and-forth between its manufacturer, a company called Synchron, and the Food and Drug Administration. On August 17, a man with ALS became the first US patient to have his Stentrode officially switched on. The man, whose identity has not been released, is unable to move his arms, move his legs, or speak normally on his own. But after a few months of training at his home near New York City, he can use his brain-computer interface to send an email saying "hi" to his caregiver or search "pharmacies" on Google. Each task takes him roughly 90 seconds.Soon, physical therapists and neuroscientists hope he'll be able to develop a skillset similar to O'Keefe's."It's not an easy task to learn — it's quite cerebral and challenging — but he's doing great," David Putrino, a longtime BCI expert who's the director of rehabilitation innovation at Mount Sinai, said.<h2>Stephen Hawking believed BCIs were the 'future of communication'</h2><div type="image" title="side by side: young stephen hawking, older stephen hawking" height="600" width="1200" msid="95426901" hostid="261" sizebytes="79890"></div>When you consider that roughly 30,000 people across the US have ALS, it's easy to see why Putrino calls this first US patient a pioneer. But he's trying out BCI tech not just for others with his condition but also for millions of <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/reeve-assets-production/RFParalysisintheUSBrief.pdf">paralyzed people</a> who've suffered strokes or been in <a href="https://www.vcuhealth.org/news/research-on-paralyzed-patients-brings-new-treatment-options-to-vcu-health">car crashes</a>, as well as those who struggle to use their hands because of diseases like Parkinson's."I believe the future of communication is brain-computer interfaces," the physicist Stephen Hawking, perhaps the most famous ALS patient, said in his <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50615313-brief-answers-to-the-big-questions">final book</a>.For now, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/brain-computer-chip-link-interface-neurotech-human-trial-2022-8">reality of BCIs</a> is far more mundane, and quite slow-paced. Thomas Oxley, the CEO of Synchron, said it was like "using your smart-TV control to change your Netflix password" — one character at a time.In the decades to come, Oxley said he envisioned BCI surgery becoming more routine, with "a hundred million people" around the world using the implants to navigate conditions like arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and muscular dystrophy. As mobility wanes with the wear and tear of aging, Oxley said he imagined BCIs would be like LASIK eye surgery for communication. "It's going to help you exist in the world in a better way," he said.<div type="image" title="synchron ceo tom oxley on stage" height="745" width="994" msid="95426903" hostid="261" sizebytes="34360"></div>BCIs are supremely difficult to engineer because in addition to training the computer, technicians have to train the users to reliably employ the same thought patterns to get the computer to do exactly what they want. Each person's brain works a little differently, using slightly different neural pathways and thought processes to achieve tasks."For the next 20 or 30 years, this is about giving people back control of the digital world," Oxley said.It's a basic, "clunky" fix, Oxley said, but for the <a href="https://www.nscisc.uab.edu/Public/Facts%20and%20Figures%202020.pdf">more than 175,000 people in the US</a> who are "locked in" by spinal-cord injuries, and often unable to work as a result, this first US patient's surgery could be revolutionary.<h2>Implanting electrodes in the 'natural highways' of the brain</h2>BCIs operate by reading signals from the primary motor cortex of the brain, which controls voluntary movements. They've been around since at least the 1970s, but until the late '90s, they required users to wear large head caps and wires, making them useful only in clinical settings and labs — more of a high-tech science experiment than an assistive device. <div type="image" title="man getting bci cap fitted, cap getting conductive gel put in it" height="600" width="1200" msid="95426906" hostid="261" sizebytes="71612"></div>Implantable devices are more practical for patients to use on their own, but they come with a set of risks from the implantation process, including infection. Oxley, a neurosurgeon by training, hopes he's largely avoided that issue by using a routine, minimally invasive technique for his new implants: a small mesh tube called a stent. Stents are tiny pieces of scaffolding (in this case, made of platinum) that surgeons insert into airways, blood vessels, or blocked arteries of the body. They're often used to open up passageways in the heart or the lungs, but with Stentrodes, they allow a tiny network of electrodes to be implanted directly into people's heads via a vein in the neck."The natural highways in the brain are the blood vessels," Oxley said.Synchron's device (pictured below) uses just one wire, which travels from a pacemakerlike receiver in the chest of a patient up into key blood vessels in the brain, right next to the primary motor cortex.The billionaire business magnate Elon Musk has often talked about performing similar work in people with his company <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/neuralink-elon-musk-microchips-brains-ai-2021-2">Neuralink</a>. In 2020, Musk <a href="https://youtu.be/DVvmgjBL74w?t=402">said</a> his tech for humans was going to be the "size of a large coin" and that it would "replace a piece of skull," a design that sounds riskier and more prone to infection than Synchron's, which requires no puncturing of the head.Musk had said that he hoped to start human trials of his own brain-computer-interface devices by the end of 2022, but no such trials have been announced. The only beings we know of who've tried out Neuralink's tech are <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSutodqCZ74">a pig</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsCul1sp4hQ&amp;feature=emb_title">a monkey</a>.<div type="image" title="elon musk neuralink " height="1465" width="1953" msid="95427164" hostid="261" sizebytes="222638"></div>In 2021, Neuralink's president, Max Hodak, left the company, and in 2022, he became an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-ex-neuralink-president-invests-rival-synchron-brain-biotech-2022-2?r=US&amp;IR=T">investor in Synchron</a>. In August, Musk reached out to Oxley about a prospective investment in Synchron, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/musk-approaches-brain-chip-startup-synchron-about-deal-amid-neuralink-delays-2022-08-19/">Reuters</a> reported.<h2>Brain-computer interfaces for pilots, astronauts, and soldiers</h2>In addition to helping people with disabilities, it's possible BCI technology, whether implanted or worn on a cap, will have military applications. Pilots could fly using only their brains, or soldiers could keep their hands free on the battlefield to multitask. Researchers at NASA have already used BCI caps to determine when pilots may be more likely to make mistakes, which could be useful for early alarm systems. <div type="image" title="Tom Cruise in a fighter jet" height="918" width="1800" msid="95427165" hostid="261" sizebytes="54916"></div>Some regulatory agencies, like the Federal Aviation Administration, are thinking about the future of BCIs. But that means privacy, ethics, cybersecurity, and insurance policies all need to be considered in a way they haven't yet, said Karen Howard, an artificial-intelligence expert and the director of the Government Accountability Office's science, technology-assessment, and analytics division.When people think of BCIs, they imagine "science-fiction movies" and "cyborgs" that "control your brain," Howard said. That's the exact opposite of how these devices work now — the brain controls the computer. In theory, things could shift the other way. Already, bidirectional BCIs can send electrical stimulation back to the brain for rehabilitation purposes, helping paralyzed patients regain movement. Someday, it's possible the same technique could be used to treat people with seizure disorders, stroke victims, or other people with neurological issues or brain injuries, similar to what's done with <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/deep-brain-stimulation/about/pac-20384562">deep brain stimulation</a>.As technology advances, we'll have to ask difficult moral and ethical questions about the use of BCIs."Might it be possible someday for a military, perhaps, to design a device that communicates with soldiers' brains and reduces their fear level so that they'll dive into a dangerous situation?" Howard said. "If agencies wait too long to think about this, when a device becomes available, it's almost too late to start thinking about how to regulate it."<h2>A Stentrode in your head by 2050?</h2>In the coming months, Oxley hopes to include at least five more patients with severe disabilities in his <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221027005126/en/Synchron-to-Begin-Patient-Enrollment-for-the-COMMAND-Trial-of-a-Brain-Computer-Interface-at-University-of-Pittsburgh">US safety trial</a>. If that's successful, the neurosurgeon is envisioning how the same kind of system could be used as a diagnostic tool for neurological issues like Parkinson's or even as a therapeutic delivering targeted stimulation to the brain for issues like depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder.When pressed, Oxley acknowledged that there could be even wider, more mainstream demand for his device someday — when "you don't want to keep picking up your phone or using your hands" to interact with the internet, he said. But it's going to take decades to get there."I reckon that's 2050 or later," he said of the prospect of BCIs for people without disabilities. "Before that happens, there's going to be, I think, millions of people getting BCIs who have severe disabilities."Even for that targeted, limited usage to become reality, the FDA needs to sign off on the Stentrode as a medical device for it to be marketed to people with severe forms of paralysis. That alone could take several more years of clinical trials.In Australia, O'Keefe's brain sends a recognizable signal out, and his device interprets it into a computer click. For him, this independence gained, however tiring and clunky, is unbeatable."There is no doubt from my perspective: Being involved in this gave me a reason to live," O'Keefe said. "It gave me back a lot more enjoyment about life and gave me things to do. It gave me the ability to stay in touch with what's going on."

A man with ALS who can't use his hands got a brain implant that lets him text, shop online, and play games — just by thinking. It could be a game-changer.

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li style="font-weight: 400;">Elon Musk on Tuesday announced in a<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-vbh3t7WVI&amp;feature=youtu.be"> livestream</a> that his neuro technology startup Neuralink hopes to begin implanting devices into human minds as early as next year. </li><li style="font-weight: 400;">Musk has invested $100 million into the secretive company - which hopes to achieve a "symbiosis with artificial intelligence" - since its founding in 2016, according to the<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/16/technology/neuralink-elon-musk.html"> New York Times</a>. </li><li style="font-weight: 400;">Musk explained that the Neuralink system would allow for a tiny chip, known as a brain-machine interface, to be implanted into the minds of willing subjects. </li><li style="font-weight: 400;">The chip would be capable of stimulating the brain's neurons using tiny flexible threads of electrodes and individual electrode thread would be inserted using a precision robot in a procedure he claimed would be as safe and painless as LASIK eye surgery. </li><li style="font-weight: 400;">Experts have called Musk's vision "science fiction" and said Neuralink's long-term goals may be unrealistic. </li><li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories</a>.</li></ul>Your mind and computer just got one step closer. Elon Musk on Tuesday announced in a<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-vbh3t7WVI&amp;feature=youtu.be"> livestream</a> that his neurotechnology startup Neuralink hopes to begin implanting devices into human brains as early as next year. "We hope to have this aspirationally in a human patient before the end of next year," Musk said at a press conference on Tuesday, where he gave updates on the progress of the system. "So this is not far."Musk has invested $100 million into the secretive company since its founding in 2016, according to the<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/16/technology/neuralink-elon-musk.html"> New York Times</a>. Neuralink has brought together some of the world's leading neuroscientists to its homebase at a laboratory in University of California, Davis.Musk explained that the Neuralink system would allow for a tiny chip - referred to as a brain-machine interface - to be implanted into the brains of willing subjects and would allow humans to achieve a "symbiosis with artificial intelligence."Small chips, roughly 4x4 millimeters in size, would be capable of stimulating neurons ⁠- or nerve cells in the human brain that communicate with other cells⁠ - using tiny flexible threads of electrodes. Each individual electrode thread would be inserted using a precision robot in a procedure he said would be as safe and painless as LASIK eye surgery. "It's not like a major operation, it's sort of equivalent to a LASIK type of thing," he said.Musk admitted the futuristic system would take time to gain FDA approval. He explained that the system could be used to treat brain disorders, like Parkinson's or Alzheimer's Disease, and ultimately could "preserve and enhance" brain function. He claimed Neuralink chips would be 1,000 times more effective than other electrode stimulating systems out there. Max Hodak, Neuralink's president, added that the system would be completely wireless and would last "years to decades."While some have lauded Musk's attempts to create the next-generation of brain-computer connection, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-elon-musks-plan-to-give-us-superhuman-brains-is-doomed-to-fail-2018-11">experts say</a> the hype surrounding the complex system may not be justified just yet. Philipp Heiler, physician and founder of Neurofeedback Neuroboost, told Business Insider last year that the system comes with risks. "When doctors open a patient's skulls to integrate a BCI (brain-computer interface), there are numerous risks, including the risk of brain damage, inflammation, and scarring," Heiler said. "You have to ask yourself what the advantage is over other interfaces like touchscreens or language assistants like Alexa." Thomas Stieglitz from the Department of Biomedical Microtechnology at the University of Freiburg in Germany told Business Insider last year that Neuralink's stated long-term goals sound too good to be true. "I believe Neuralink's long-term goals are unrealistic, or at least it's dubious to phrase them in such a way," said Stieglitz."Unless all this is clear, it's simply not possible to upload knowledge somewhere else then upload it back into the brain. While it might make for great science fiction, in reality it's just hokum."

Elon Musk's company Neuralink plans to connect people's brains to the internet by next year using a procedure he claims will be as safe and easy as LASIK eye surgery

You Searched For "Max Hodak" and got 10 results

The former president of Elon Musk's Neuralink has invested in the rival company that beat it to human trials

Isobel Asher Hamilton

Max Hodak, the cofounder of Elon Musk's Neuralink, departed the company 'a few weeks ago'

Kevin Shalvey

Neuralink is less advanced than these 4 brain-computer devices. See Elon Musk's competition.

Hilary Brueck

Elon Musk told staff at his brain-chip company Neuralink he's frustrated with their slow progress, report says

Isobel Asher Hamilton

A Neuralink cofounder left Elon Musk's brain-chip company, leaving it with just 2 of its 8 founding members

Isobel Asher Hamilton

A brain-computer startup beat Elon Musk's Neuralink to implanting its first device in a US patient

Grace Kay

Elon Musk says he's tested his brain microchip on monkeys and it enabled one to control a computer with its mind

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A man with ALS who can't use his hands got a brain implant that lets him text, shop online, and play games — just by thinking. It could be a game-changer.

Hilary Brueck

Elon Musk's company Neuralink plans to connect people's brains to the internet by next year using a procedure he claims will be as safe and easy as LASIK eye surgery

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What to know about the booming psychedelics industry, where companies are racing to turn magic mushrooms and MDMA into approved medicines

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