Elon Musk showcases monkeys outfitted with Neuralink devices typing "telepathically" during an update Wednesday.Elon Musk showcases monkeys outfitted with Neuralink devices typing "telepathically" during an update Wednesday.

Elon Musk showcased updates Wednesday evening, including clips of monkeys typing sentences using just their brains.

By Kevin JiangToronto Star

Wed., Nov. 30, 20223 min. read

Elon Musk gave a long-anticipated update on his secretive brain chip company Neuralink Wednesday, during which he announced the company’s devices could be ready for human trials in six months.

Founded in 2016 by Musk and eight co-founders, the San Francisco-based company is the billionaire’s answer to the eventual threat of artificial intelligence. For now, it seeks to develop a brain-computer interface enabling users to control a computer or mobile device by thought alone.

Tune in on Nov 30 @ 6pm Pacific for an exciting update from Neuralink!

During the event, which was livestreamed on Neuralink’s YouTube channel, Musk unveiled videos of monkey test subjects using implanted brain chips to type out sentences like “welcome to show and tell” and “can I please have snacks.”

The experiments were performed on six monkeys, Musk said, clarifying that they don’t actually know how to spell — instead, they moved a mouse with their minds to arrange the pre-written words in the right order.

“The monkeys actually enjoy doing the demos, and they get the banana smoothie, and it’s kind of a fun game,” he said. “We care a great deal about animal welfare.”

A monkey is shown typing out the sentence “can I please have snacks” using Neuralink's during an update Wednesday.

The same technology could eventually allow quadriplegics to access a mouse and keyboard, Musk said: “someone who has no other interface with the outside world would be able to control their phone better than someone who has working hands.”

Musk said they’ve already submitted most of their paperwork to the FDA, promising that the company is six months away from trialling their devices in humans in the U.S.

Currently, the implant takes the form of an implantable, “cosmetically invisible” device embedded within the skull. The device, called a “link,” is about the size and shape of a quarter. Connected to it are numerous micron-scale threads loaded with electrons, surgically implanted into regions of the brain responsible for movement.

To implant the threads, Musk’s company developed a robot to perform the surgery. A live demo of the robot performing surgery was shown during the event.

Neuralink gives a live demonstration of its surgery robot used to implant its neural threads during an updated Wednesday.

The link is about the thickness of the skull, allowing it to be hidden: “(It’s like) we’re replacing a piece of skull with a smartwatch,” Musk said. “… I could have a Neuralink device implanted right now and you wouldn’t even know. And maybe one of these demos, I will.”

One of the company’s first objectives is to restore vision to those impaired, including people born completely blind, Musk said. He continued that Neuralink could eventually restore functionality to people with paralysis.

“We’re confident we can restore full body functionality to someone with a severed spinal cord,” he said to audience applause.

Musk compared the first Neuralink device to the iPhone 1, adding that they will be able to update and replace already installed implants with later versions. Some monkeys have had their implants for over a year and successfully received updates, demonstrating the devices’ long-term safety, he said.

A Neuralink implant, called a "Link," is shown during the company's update Wednesday.

The main purpose of the update is to recruit new members, Musk said. According to its website, Neuralink is hiring for a wide array of roles from microfabrication to animal care.

In the future, Neuralink believes its technology could be used to “treat a wide range of neurological disorders, to restore sensory and motor function, and eventually to expand how we interact with each other and experience the world around us,” its website reads.

Neuralink’s previous update, posted in April of 2021, made waves when it showed a monkey playing “Pong” with its mind. A narrator revealed the monkey, named “Pager,” had two links embedded in his skull, over his motor cortices. When Pager thought about moving his hand, the paddle moved too.

Pager, a nine year old Macaque, plays MindPong with his Neuralink.

Neuralink revealed its technology to the public for the first time in 2020, when it demonstrated the link functioning in the brain of a pig. As the pig roamed its enclosure, its brain signals were able to be detected and recorded by the chips.

The company hasn’t been without controversy. Neuralink fell under fire when a 700-page letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture alleged researchers committed animal abuse during the company’s partnership with UC Davis. Penned by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, the letter claimed Neuralink’s research caused “extreme suffering” in its test subjects.

In response, Neuralink blogged that they are “absolutely committed to working with animals in the most humane and ethical way possible.”

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