Neuralink Implants First Brain Chip in Human

Elon Musk has announced that Neuralink has successfully implanted its first brain chip into a human patient.

The American billionaire and CEO of SpaceX revealed on Monday, January 29, that his startup had placed a coin-sized brain implant into a patient’s skull.

The California-based company had previously received approval in May from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin new clinical trials on human volunteers.

Writing on his account on X (formerly Twitter), Musk stated that the implant—named “Telepathy”—has shown promising early results, noting: “Initial results indicate encouraging spike activity.”

He added that the patient is in good condition and recovering well. Musk also emphasized that the device could enable users to control computers or smartphones purely through thought.

Since 2019, Musk has repeatedly suggested that human trials were imminent. Neuralink formally sought regulatory approval in early 2022, but its initial application was rejected due to safety concerns before later receiving clearance.

According to U.S. media reports in November, thousands of volunteers had already signed up to receive the implant.

Prior to human testing, Neuralink implanted its chip into a macaque monkey, which was able to play a video game without using a controller or keyboard.

This is not the first time such technology has been tested on humans. In early 2019, researchers at CEA Grenoble Clinatec developed and implanted a device that enabled a quadriplegic patient to move their arms.

Neuralink has recently raised approximately $323 million from investors. Musk has said he ultimately aims to make the implant widely available to improve human–computer interaction and, in his view, help mitigate what he describes as the potential “risk to civilization” posed by artificial intelligence.

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