Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain-computer interface company, says it has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). to launch its first human clinical trial. If this is true, it means that real people can get a device from Neuralink in their head.
The news follows Elon Musk’s claim in November that Neuralink was about six months away from its first human trial — suggesting it’s the rare Musk promise that actually comes true in time. The announcement of a future human trial isn’t nearly as big a milestone as the Results of that process. But this is not just any process. This represents Elon Musk, of all people, who can attach a device to a human brain.
And it makes us wonder: who would sign up for something like that, and why? Will it be someone who has a major medical reason or someone who wants to draw the world’s attention to Musk’s side, and is there a chance it might be Elon Musk himself? Musk has claimed that he will have the device implanted in his own head at some undetermined time in the future.
If you think you’d like to be part of the Neuralink trial yourself, you don’t need to do anything for now. Neuralink says recruitment is not yet open and it will announce more information “soon”.