NeuraLink: Facts behind the project

Created By Farrah Penn.

Neuralink is an American neurotechnology company which was launched in 2016 by Elon Musk and a team of seven engineers. It is developing implantable high-bandwidth brain-machine interfaces.

• Neuralink is a privately held company with a number of investors. Elon Musk has put the most money into the company, putting in a total of $100 million. Craft Ventures, DFJ Growth, Dreamers VC, Future Ventures (San Francisco), and Valor Equity Partners have each contributed $58 million.

• With Neuralink, you can send real thoughts and communicate much more effectively. You could begin to tap into those basic concepts you’re thinking in your head.

• The chip is an attempt to give humans a chance to be as intelligent as robots are. Chips may forever change our minds with Neuralink, which aims to improve the human body and help us compete with AI by implanting brain chips.

• The electrodes in the Neuralink will read electrical signals produced by various neurons in the brain. The signals are then output as an action or movement. According to the company’s website, the device is implanted directly in the brain because placing it outside the head will not accurately detect brain signals.

• A brain surgery is required to implant the chip. This surgery, which is expected to take less than an hour, is performed almost entirely by an automated robot designed by Neuralink — at an estimated initial cost of $10-20 million.

The Neuralink team brought out three pigs to demonstrate the device: Joyce, who had no implant, and Gertrude, who had an implant that monitored neurons in her snout…#Neuralink #StorySup #ElonMusk @elonmusk @neuralink t.co/JyHQnxKnNQ

— StorySup (@TheStorySup) July 27, 2023

• There are some challenges are there that are yet to overcome such as FDA approval and legal and medical concerns, there are privacy and ethical concerns — for example, hackers could theoretically gain access to other people’s brains via a BCI.

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• Neuralink is developing a robotic installer that will eventually handle the entire surgical installation process. This entails opening the scalp, removing a portion of the skull, inserting hundreds of “thread” electrodes and an accompanying computer chip, and then closing the incision.

We use an artificial person to practice placing the Neuralink implant 👤 pic.twitter.com/n53aKs26F0

— Neuralink (@neuralink) July 19, 2023

• The Neuralink team brought out three pigs to demonstrate the device: Joyce, who had no implant, and Gertrude, who had an implant that monitored neurons in her snout. Musk showed a screen that showed live signals from Gertrude’s Neuralink device as she rummaged through some hay, produced when she touched her snout to food or the ground.