Neuralink implants brain chip in second patient in study, Musk says

Neuralink has successfully implanted a second patient with a device designed to enable paralyzed people to use digital devices by thinking, according to startup owner Elon Musk.

Neuralink is currently testing its device to help people with spinal cord injuries.

The device allowed the first patient to play video games, browse the internet, post on social media and move a cursor on a laptop.

Musk, in comments made during a podcast released late Friday that ran for more than eight hours, provided few details about the second participant beyond saying the person had a spinal cord injury similar to the first patient, who was paralyzed in a diving accident. Musk said the 400 electrodes of the implant in the second patient’s brain are working. Neuralink says on its website that its implant uses 1,024 electrodes.

“I don’t want to jinx it, but it looks like the second implant went very well,” Musk told podcast host Lex Fridman. “There’s a lot of signal, a lot of electrodes. It’s working very well.”

Musk did not disclose when Neuralink performed surgery on its second patient. Musk said he expects Neuralink to deliver implants to eight more patients this year as part of a clinical trial.

The first patient, Noland Arbaugh, was also invited to the podcast, where three Neuralink executives were invited to talk in detail about how the implant works and the surgery performed using the robot.

Before Arbaugh got the implant in January, he used a stick in his mouth to tap a tablet screen to use his computer. Arbaugh said that with the implant, he can now simply think about what he wants to happen on the computer screen, and the device makes it happen.

He says the device has given him a bit of independence and reduced his dependence on caregivers.

Arbaugh initially had problems after surgery when the tiny wires in his implant retracted, causing the electrodes that could measure brain signals to become much smaller. Reuters reported that Neuralink knew about the problem from animal studies.

Neuralink said it restored the implant’s ability to monitor Arbaugh’s brain signals, making changes that included tweaking the algorithm to make it more sensitive. Arbaugh improved on his previous world record for the speed at which he could control a cursor with just his thoughts, “with only about 10, 15 percent of the electrodes working,” Musk said on the podcast.

Musk also said he had spoken with Republican candidate Donald Trump, whom he supported in the U.S. presidential race, about forming a commission aimed at improving “government efficiency” by reducing business regulations, and that he would be willing to participate in it.

Musk said he believes U.S. regulations hinder innovation.