Nov 30, 2022

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. The update was announced Nov. 24 via the company’s Twitter, in a video displaying the words “please join us for show and tell.” The event takes place at 9 p.m. EST and is reported to be available on Neuralink’s social media. Neuralink’s initial goal, it says, is to help people with paralysis regain independence “through the control of computers and mobile devices.” For example, it could potentially allow people living with disabilities to communicate through text-to-speech, browse the web without lifting a finger or express themselves through photography, art or writing. Currently, the chip 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. According to the company’s website, the link will be synced to an app that would allow people with the implant to control a keyboard and mouse “just by thinking about it.” 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 latest 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, however. 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.” Kevin Jiang is a Toronto-based digital producer for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @crudelykevin RELATED STORIES