Neuralink Implants Second Brain Chip, Musk Says Trial “Gone Extremely Well”

According to the billionaire, 400 of the implant’s electrodes on the second patient’s brain are functioning. Further, the startup’s website states that its implant uses 1,024 electrodes.

Neuralink has successfully implanted its brain device in a second patient, enabling paralyzed patients to control digital devices through thought alone, as confirmed by the startup's owner, Elon Musk.

Founded in 2016, Neuralink aims to develop a BCI that can be used to control external devices, such as prosthetic limbs or computers, and to restore lost brain functions.

The first Neuralink brain chip patient has already demonstrated the device's capabilities, playing video games, browsing the internet, posting on social media, and navigating his laptop using only his thoughts.

In a recent eight-hour podcast, Musk shared that the second patient, who has a spinal cord injury similar to the first, has shown promising results.

According to the billionaire, 400 of the implant’s electrodes on the second patient’s brain are functioning. Further, the startup’s website states that its implant uses 1,024 electrodes.

“I don’t want to jinx it but it seems to have gone extremely well with the second implant. There’s a lot of signal, a lot of electrodes. It’s working very well,” Musk told podcast host Lex Fridman.

However, details about the timing of the second surgery were not disclosed. Musk said he expects Neuralink to provide the implants to eight more patients this year as part of its clinical trials.

Neuralink’s First Patient’s Response

Along with Musk, Noland Arbaugh, the first patient, and three Neuralink executives, were also interviewed on the podcast.

Arbaugh, described his experience with the implant during the podcast, highlighting the newfound independence it has afforded him.

Before receiving the implant in January, Arbaugh relied on a stick in his mouth to interact with a tablet. Now, he can control his computer simply by thinking, reducing his dependence on caregivers, Neuralink’s first patient revealed in the interview.

Sharing further details, Arbaugh said that he initially encountered issues when the implant’s tiny wires retracted, diminishing the number of functioning electrodes.

Neuralink addressed this by enhancing the implant's algorithm restoring its ability to monitor brain signals, he added.

Despite having only 10-15% of the electrodes operational, Arbaugh has already surpassed his previous world record for cursor control speed using thoughts alone.

Neuralink has said it restored the implant’s ability to monitor Arbaugh’s brain signals by making changes that included modifying its algorithm to be more sensitive.

Arbaugh has improved on his previous world record for the speed at which he can control a cursor with thoughts alone “with only roughly 10, 15% of the electrodes working,” Musk said on the podcast.