New Delhi (India), 26th May 2023: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Elon Musk’s brain-chip company to conduct its first human tests.
By connecting brains with computers, the billionaire’s Neuralink implant firm hopes to help restore people’s eyesight and mobility.
But the company states that it has no immediate intentions to begin recruiting people. Mr Musk’s prior plans to begin testing had fell through and didn’t amount to anything.
An earlier FDA approval attempt by Neuralink was rejected on safety reasons, according to a March article by the Reuters news agency, which quoted many current and former workers.
Neuralink intends to use its microchips to heal illnesses including paralysis and blindness, as well as to assist certain impaired people in using computers and mobile technologies.
The chips, which have been tested on monkeys, are intended to decode brain signals and transfer information to gadgets through Bluetooth.
Mr Musk has previously stated that the proposed technology might help alleviate concerns about AI displacing people.
Neuralink announced the news via Twitter on Thursday, calling it an, “important first step that will one day allow our technology to help many people…(It is)the result of incredible work by the Neuralink team in close collaboration with the FDA.”
The company promised that “soon” further details about intentions to sign up trial participants would be provided. According to its website, “safety, accessibility, and reliability” are key priority during the engineering process.
However, experts have warned that if Neuralink’s brain implants are to become generally available, they will need considerable testing to overcome technical and ethical difficulties.
Mr Musk co-founded the firm in 2016, and it has consistently misjudged its ability to fulfil its objectives. Its initial goal was to begin implanting chips in human brains in 2020, in order to fulfil a vow made the previous year. It later stated that it would begin operations in 2022.
The company suffered another setback in December of last year, when it was apparently investigated for possible animal welfare infractions in its operations. It previously refuted similar charges.
Its FDA approval for human studies comes on the heels of a similar discovery employing brain implants by Swiss researchers.
A paralysed Dutchman was able to walk simply by thinking about it, thanks to a set of implants that wirelessly transmitted his thoughts to his legs and feet.
