Brain-computer interface company co-founded by Elon MuskPersonElon MuskEntrepreneur behind Tesla and SpaceX who co-founded the brain-computer interface company Neuralink to link the human brain with computers and keep pace with AI.Person → in 2016, developing the implantable N1 device and R1 surgical robot to let people control computers by thought.
Facts
- Founded
- 2016
- Co-founder
- Elon Musk
- Headquarters
- Fremont, CA and Austin, TX
- Focus
- Implantable brain-computer interfaces
- Key products
- N1 implant, R1 surgical robot
- First human implant
- January 2024
Overview
Neuralink is an American neurotechnology company developing implantable brain-computer interface devices intended to let people control computers and other machines directly with neural activity. Co-founded in 2016 by Elon MuskPersonElon MuskEntrepreneur behind Tesla and SpaceX who co-founded the brain-computer interface company Neuralink to link the human brain with computers and keep pace with AI.Person → along with a team of scientists and engineers, the company is based in Fremont, California, and Austin, Texas. Its near-term goal is medical, restoring lost function to people with paralysis, while Musk has described a far more expansive long-term ambition of a closer symbiosis between human brains and artificial intelligence.
The N1 implant and R1 robot
Neuralink's core product is the N1, a small coin-sized device designed to sit flush within the skull, replacing a removed disc of bone. The implant connects to the brain through dozens of ultra-thin flexible threads carrying roughly a thousand electrodes, which record the firing of nearby neurons. The N1 is wireless and battery powered, charging inductively. Because the threads are far finer than a human hand can place safely, Neuralink also built the R1, a surgical robot that inserts them one by one while avoiding blood vessels on the brain's surface. Unlike deep brain stimulation systems, which chiefly deliver electrical pulses, the N1 is designed first to read brain activity, though stimulation is a stated future goal.
Human trials
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared Neuralink to begin human testing in 2023, and the company launched a study called PRIME. The first participant, Noland Arbaugh, paralyzed below the shoulders after a diving accident, received an N1 implant in January 2024 and used the device to move a computer cursor, browse the web, and play chess and games by thought alone. Subsequent implants followed as the company worked to improve thread stability and bandwidth.
Reception
Neuralink has drawn intense attention and equally intense criticism, over its animal research, its workplace culture, and timelines that skeptics view as outpacing the science. Supporters see it as pushing the field of neural prosthetics toward mass-market viability; critics warn that medical claims and enhancement dreams should not be conflated.