Elon Musk’s company Neuralink, famous for its brain-chip technology, has announced it’s been given the go-ahead to start recruiting for its first human trial, aiming to benefit paralysis patients. This approval comes from an independent body.
The approval for Neuralink’s human trials was granted in May, signaling that the company’s innovative technology has met the necessary safety and efficacy standards.
The individuals who can participate in this study are those who are paralyzed due to cervical spinal cord injuries or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a nerve disorder. While the number of participants wasn’t disclosed, we do know that this trial is expected to take about six years to wrap up.
During the trial, Neuralink will use a robot to surgically implant a device, known as a brain-computer interface, into a specific brain region. This area controls our intention to move. The company’s initial ambition? To allow people to control computer devices like cursors and keyboards simply by thinking.
The chip will be implanted into the brain area that controls the intention to move by a robot. The goal is for these participants to operate a computer keyboard or move a cursor using their thoughts. The expected timeline for the trial is six years.
Initially, Neuralink wanted to implant the device in 10 individuals. However, following safety concerns from the FDA, the company had to negotiate for a fewer number of patients. It’s unclear how many patients have ultimately been approved by the FDA.
In May, Neuralink announced on Twitter that it had received clearance from the FDA for human clinical trials, a statement later confirmed by the FDA. This significant step towards human trials follows the substantial $280 million funding boost Neuralink received earlier.
We are excited to share that we have received the FDA’s approval to launch our first-in-human clinical study!
— Neuralink (@neuralink) May 25, 2023
This is the result of incredible work by the Neuralink team in close collaboration with the FDA and represents an important first step that will one day allow our…
The approval for human trials also comes amid ongoing scrutiny of Neuralink’s testing practices, particularly allegations of animal cruelty.
Since its inception, the company has reportedly killed more than 1,500 animals during its experiments.
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Musk’s vision for Neuralink is big
Musk envisions a future where Neuralink’s device could be used for rapid surgeries to treat a range of conditions, including obesity, autism, depression, and schizophrenia.
But he doesn’t stop there. He also sees the potential for a “general population device” that could help humans keep up with artificial intelligence [1]. Imagine being able to access the processing power of a supercomputer just by thinking about it!
But perhaps the most intriguing, and somewhat controversial, aspect of Neuralink’s vision is the idea of creating a “backup drive for your non-physical being, your digital soul.” Musk has suggested that the device could eventually extract and store thoughts, essentially creating a digital copy of your consciousness.
Building on Elon Musk’s ambitious Neuralink project, it’s vital to acknowledge the journey to this point.
Neuralink’s journey began in 2016 when it was founded by Elon Musk and a team of seven scientists and engineers.
The company’s initial goal was to create devices that could treat serious brain diseases. However, their vision quickly expanded to include human enhancement, a concept sometimes referred to as transhumanism.
Musk’s interest in this idea was partly inspired by the science fiction concept of “neural lace” in the fictional universe in The Culture, a series of novels by Iain M. Banks1.
Neuralink has been refining its technology and procedures for five years before moving on to human trials, with all earlier tests carried out on animals.
In 2021, Neuralink released a video showing a monkey using the device to play the video game Pong with his mind. The monkey, named Pager, had a Neuralink device implanted in each side of his brain.
The devices recorded his neuron activity while he manipulated a joystick to play the game. Over time, the devices learned to predict Pager’s intended hand movements, allowing him to control the game using only his thoughts.
A year later, another video appeared to show a monkey typing on a computer telepathically.
Unfortunately, a monkey died in 2022 during an exercise aimed at enabling it to play Pong, one of the earliest video games, as part of the brain-computer interface experimentation.
The company’s use of monkeys in their experiments has not been without controversy.
There have been allegations of animal cruelty, with some claiming that the mortality rate among experimental animals has been higher than necessary due to the aggressive development timeline set by Elon Musk, which they claim has led to more mistakes and botched operations than usual.
These allegations have led to ongoing investigations from multiple government agencies and members of Congress.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s inspector general opened an investigation into Neuralink in response to a request from a federal prosecutor [2]. The inquiry focuses on violations of the Animal Welfare Act, which governs how researchers treat and test some animals.
In addition to this, the U.S. Department of Transportation opened an investigation into Neuralink in February 2023 over allegations of unsafe transport of antibiotic-resistant pathogens [3].
However, despite these investigations, Neuralink has passed all USDA inspections of its facilities. The full scope of the federal investigation is not yet clear. As of now, there are no publicly available results of these investigations.
However, the road to human trials has been rocky. The FDA rejected Neuralink’s previous bid for human trials in 2022, citing “dozens of deficiencies” the company had to address before human testing could begin. Unfortunately, the details of these deficiencies are not publicly available due to FDA regulations and Neuralink’s status as a private company.
Opening up human trials signifies a major leap forward for Neuralink. However, considering the previous tests and incidents, one can appreciate why its journey to this point has been filled with caution. The vast potential of this technology delivers a sense of anticipation, but the path ahead is abundantly dependent on the success and safety of these upcoming human trials.
While this development marks a significant milestone, it’s essential to manage expectations regarding timelines. Even if the BCI implant proves successful in these trials, experts suggest that it may take a decade or more before it receives the necessary approvals for commercial use, emphasizing the paramount importance of safety and efficacy.
The hope is that this groundbreaking research will pave the way for new treatments and interventions that can improve the quality of life for people suffering from paralysis and other debilitating conditions.
References:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/dec/05/neuralink-animal-testing-elon-musk-investigation
https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-pcrm-neuralink-monkey-deaths/
