Elon Musk believes Neuralink is six months away from human testing

Elon Musk has revised the timeline for Neuralink’s brain implant, three years after introducing it and promising to start human trials by the end of 2020, a target that was covertly missed and forgone in favor of continuing animal studies. He predicted that by the middle of 2023, the business may finally begin implanting people, a year after its competitor Synchron.

Musk stated, “We’ve been working hard to be prepared for our first person. I believe we’ve filed most of our documentation to the FDA, and we believe that in about six months we should be able to have our first Neuralink in person. We want to be very careful and confident that it will operate properly before putting our device in a human.”

The CEO himself could be among the first to use the technology. He states that the device is discreet enough that people will not know if he has had it placed or not. 

To stimulate both mental and physical activity, the Neuralink implant is made to replace a removed portion of the skull by matching its size and thickness. Musk said it was similar to inserting an Apple Watch or Fitbit in a portion of the skull.

According to the CEO, the company will prioritize the implant’s first two applications once it has the FDA’s approval to start conducting human studies. The first application is focused on restoring vision to those who are visually impaired. Musk claims that the implant will be able to correct blindness in even those who were born blind. The second will be designed for those who are paralyzed and the aim is to restore movement.

Plans for Neuralink include deploying numerous Neuralink implants in the brain and spinal cord to assist paraplegic individuals in regaining their ability to move and walk. 

Beyond its medical applications, Musk stated that the implant may assist all people to move closer to becoming half-human, half-robot hybrids, ideally with sufficient superintelligence to topple any potentially harmful artificial intelligence that may emerge to endanger mankind. 

Several claims had risen regarding the mistreatment of animals in testing. Musk reassured the audience that animal testing started only after the device had passed multiple testing phases on a sample artificial human brain, to which it was confirmed as a usable product. 

Neuralink’s brain implant has not shown success in animal trials as of yet and the claims made by the CEO are hypothetical at this point.