Elon Musk: Millions of People Could Have Neuralink Chips Implanted in the Next Decade

Elon Musk hopes to implant neural links in hundreds of millions of people in the next decade, ushering in a new era of human-machine interaction.

In a recent update on Neuralink's official blog, the team shared the news of successfully implanting the second device in a human participant. This progress quickly caught Musk's attention, and he shared his optimistic expectations on his social platform X: "With the second human implant of the neural link device going smoothly, we expect to have hundreds of users in the coming years, tens of thousands within five years, and millions within a decade..."

Neuralink, a neurotechnology company founded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk in 2016, successfully completed its first human implant experiment of brain-machine interface technology in January of this year. The goal is to help paralyzed patients control digital devices with their thoughts alone. The core of this technology lies in the precise implantation of 64 tiny electrodes, which serve as a bridge between the brain and the chip. The chip is then connected to a customized application, allowing patients to control external devices with their minds.

However, the initial attempt was not without challenges. The first participant, Norland Arbaugh, praised the neural link technology but encountered difficulties after the initial implantation. Many wires retracted, leaving only about 15% of the electrodes effectively connected. In response to this problem, the team quickly addressed the issue, not only solving the problem but also significantly reducing the risks of subsequent implants. Arbaugh commented on the experience, saying, "I believe this is not only a huge leap in gaming experience but also the beginning of endless possibilities in the future. It's very exciting."

In July of this year, the Neuralink team successfully implanted the device in a second participant and announced in subsequent updates, "The surgery went smoothly, and the patient, Alex, was discharged the next day." To prevent wire retraction from recurring, the team implemented several innovative measures, including minimizing brain movement during the surgery and reducing the space between the implant and the brain surface. These strategies were extensively explained in a preoperative live broadcast. "It is gratifying that we did not observe wire retraction in the second participant," summarized the Neuralink team, marking another important milestone in the application of this technology.