close video Neuralink engineer shows how paralyzed patient can control computer with implant
Elon Musk’s startup company Neuralink livestreamed on March 20 its first patient implanted with a brain-chip using his mind to play chess on a computer. (Credit: Reuters)
Billionaire business magnate Elon Musk declared in a post on X that robots will outmatch surgeons in a matter of years.
"Robots will surpass good human surgeons within a few years and the best human surgeons within ~5 years," he declared.
Referring to his company Neuralink, which has implanted technology in people's brains that enables them to manipulate computers with their thoughts, Musk noted, "@Neuralink had to use a robot for the brain-computer electrode insertion, as it was impossible for a human to achieve the required speed and precision."
THIRD NEURALINK BRAIN IMPLANT PATIENT ABLE TO COMMUNICATE DESPITE NON-VERBAL ALS
Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla, speaks during an America PAC town hall ahead of the Wisconsin Supreme Court election at the KI Convention Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Sunday, March 30, 2025. (Jamie Kelter Davis/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In response to Musk's prediction, GOP Sen. Mike Lee of Utah opined, "Sounds like a win for humans."
Neuralink's website notes, "The threads of our implant are so fine that they can't be inserted by the human hand. Our surgical robot has been designed to reliably and efficiently insert these threads exactly where they need to be."
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But some "threads retracted from the brain" after the tech was implanted in the first patient, Noland Arbaugh, Neuralink noted last year.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Neuralink informed Arbaugh that about 15% of the threads were still in place.
However, in August 2024, Neuralink stated that there had not been thread retraction observed in the second implant recipient.
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Robots can provide emotional support and companionship.
Tesla, the popular electric vehicle manufacturer led by Musk, has been developing humanoid robots.
The machines, which are not yet available, are described on the Tesla Optimus X account as "capable of performing tasks that are unsafe, repetitive or boring."