Elon Musk is such a big proponent of artificial intelligence and its endless possibilities that he founded his own company based on the concept.
His brain implant company, Neuralink, which aims to connect the human brain with AI, celebrated a major victory this week, earning approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use the chip in its first human clinical trial.
Musk and Neuralink previously tried to get the FDA’s go-ahead to actually put chips in human brains, but failed. Finally receiving this promise “is an important first step to one day enabling our technology to help many people,” the company said in a tweet.
Previous attempts at FDA approval have been based on the fact that Neuralink’s brain chip uses lithium-ion batteries and the possibility that its wiring could travel through the brain, making it difficult to safely remove it without damaging the brain.
It failed because regulators had major concerns about whether it would be possible to do so.
Neuralink seems to have addressed these concerns in some way.
Neuralink seeks human trial approval from 2022
It’s unclear exactly what Neuralink hopes to learn from human studies. But Musk has previously claimed brain implants could treat everything from depression and schizophrenia to obesity and autism.
He is so convinced of their power that he even claims to have tipped his own children.
And the federal government isn’t necessarily excited about Neuralink, which has been criticized for allegations of hasty testing, failure to comply with safety regulations when shipping monkey brain-derived pathogens, and concerns about animal welfare.
It is also important to note that it has been the subject of multiple investigations.
Neuralink has not yet commented on these allegations and is unlikely to do so in the future.
I don’t know about you, but I’m in no hurry to implant anything in my brain, no matter who says it’s safe.