Elon Musk’s Brain Implant Startup Is Ready to Start Surgery
Neuralink has FDA clearance to start messing with people’s heads—and not just figuratively.
Neuralink’s surgical robot with a practice dummy under a sheet.
Photographer: Damien Maloney for Bloomberg Businessweek
Elon Musk is preparing for the most consequential launch of his career. But this one isn’t rocket science—it’s brain surgery. Musk’s company Neuralink Corp. is seeking a volunteer for its first clinical trial, meaning it’s looking for someone willing to have a chunk of their skull removed by a surgeon so a large robot can insert a series of electrodes and superthin wires into their brain. When the robot finishes, the missing piece of skull will have been replaced with a computer the size of a quarter that’s meant to stay there for years. Its job will be to read and analyze the person’s brain activity, then relay that information wirelessly to a nearby laptop or tablet.