Entrepreneur behind Tesla and SpaceX who co-founded the brain-computer interface company NeuralinkCompanyNeuralinkBrain-computer interface company co-founded by Elon Musk in 2016, developing the implantable N1 device and R1 surgical robot to let people control computers by thought.Company → to link the human brain with computers and keep pace with AI.
Facts
- Born
- June 28, 1971, Pretoria, South Africa
- Known for
- Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink
- Role in field
- Co-founder of Neuralink
- Neuralink founded
- 2016
- First human implant
- January 2024
Background
Elon Musk is a business magnate and entrepreneur known for leading the electric-car maker Tesla and the rocket company SpaceX. Within the fields of cybernetics and human enhancement, he is most relevant as the co-founder of NeuralinkCompanyNeuralinkBrain-computer interface company co-founded by Elon Musk in 2016, developing the implantable N1 device and R1 surgical robot to let people control computers by thought.Company →, a company developing implantable brain-computer interface technology intended to let people control devices with their thoughts and, in Musk's long-term vision, to help humanity keep pace with artificial intelligence. Born in Pretoria, South Africa, he moved to Canada and then the United States, where he studied physics and economics and made an early fortune in software and online payments, including the company that became PayPal. His ventures established a reputation for pursuing ambitious, capital-intensive engineering goals, a pattern he carried into neurotechnology.
Neuralink
Musk co-founded NeuralinkCompanyNeuralinkBrain-computer interface company co-founded by Elon Musk in 2016, developing the implantable N1 device and R1 surgical robot to let people control computers by thought.Company → in 2016 to build direct, high-bandwidth connections between the brain and computers. The company develops a coin-sized implantable device that sits in the skull and records activity through very thin, flexible electrode threads inserted into the brain by a purpose-built surgical robot. Its near-term goal is medical, to help people with paralysis control computers, phones, and other devices directly, and potentially to restore lost sensory or motor function. In January 2024 Neuralink implanted its device in its first human participant, a man with paralysis later shown using the implant to move a cursor and play games by thought alone. The company has described a product it calls Telepathy and has carried out additional implants while continuing preclinical work on restoring vision.
Views on AI and lifespan
Musk frames NeuralinkCompanyNeuralinkBrain-computer interface company co-founded by Elon Musk in 2016, developing the implantable N1 device and R1 surgical robot to let people control computers by thought.Company → within a larger concern about artificial intelligence. He has repeatedly warned that advanced AI could pose serious risks to humanity, and he was an early co-founder and funder of the research lab OpenAICompanyOpenAIThe artificial intelligence company behind ChatGPT, viewed through its work on AI for biology and the longevity investments of chief executive Sam Altman.Company → in 2015, though he later left its board and became a public critic. He argues that a high-bandwidth brain-computer interface could allow humans to achieve a kind of symbiosis with AI. Unlike many figures associated with transhumanismTermTranshumanismA philosophical and technical movement focused on using science and engineering to expand human capacities and resilience.In glossary →, however, Musk has expressed skepticism about dramatically extending the human lifespan, saying he does not want to live for an extremely long time and that it is important for older generations to make way for new ones. He has framed his ambitions less around personal immortality and more around making humanity a multi-planetary species and reducing the risks of artificial intelligence.
Reception
Musk's involvement has brought unprecedented attention and funding to brain-computer interfacesArticleBrain-Computer InterfacesBCIs connect neural activity to computers, prosthetics, and communication systems, with medical restoration leading enhancement.Read entry →, accelerating public interest in a field that academic laboratories had advanced quietly for decades. Supporters credit him with pushing an ambitious engineering agenda and with attracting talent and investment. Critics raise concerns about safety, hype, the treatment of research animals, and the concentration of powerful technology in private hands, and they caution that restoring complex function in humans remains difficult and unproven. Independent experts also note that many of NeuralinkCompanyNeuralinkBrain-computer interface company co-founded by Elon Musk in 2016, developing the implantable N1 device and R1 surgical robot to let people control computers by thought.Company →'s underlying ideas build on decades of prior neural prosthetics research, and that it competes with other companies pursuing similar goals.