Neuralink participant uses his brain chip to play Counter-Strike 2 with just his mind

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While we’ve heard a lot about the supposed superpowers Elon Musk’s Neuralink project could enable, it’s a different story to see it in action in a game. Musk’s current chip-on-brain testing project (“PRIME”) has had two participants so far, and it looks like the second one is wasting no time on PC gaming.

Neuralink’s “Link” is a brain-computer interface (BCI)—a device that is surgically implanted into the brain and is designed to allow digital devices to be controlled using neural activity, i.e., thought. According to the latest advance in the Neuralink PRIME study, Alex, the second participant, not only quickly used Link for 3D printing projects in CAD software Fusion 360, but also used it to play Counter-Strike 2.

Alex uses Link literally think where he needs to go in the game, and the game will take him there.

This is more than just extravagant luxury, as Alex has a spinal cord injury that makes it difficult for him to interact with digital devices. The Neuralink update tells us that Alex previously used a mouth-controlled device called the Quadstick for gaming, but it only has one joystick.

Now, with Link, he can “move and aim simultaneously, unlocking a more intuitive gameplay experience.” This certainly unlocks the entire world of FPS games as well, making them incredibly playable.

That seems to be Musk’s goal. As he said in May, the goal is to “provide a powerful interface that streamlines the control of digital devices for people with quadriplegia, unleashing their personal and professional potential.”

And the aim of the PRIME study is specifically to “evaluate the initial functionality of our BCI with the aim of enabling people with tetraplegia to control external devices with their thoughts.”

The solution worked for the first participant (apart from some issues with disconnecting the BCI) and it looks like it will work for the second as well.

Alex seems pleased, stating that he is “very impressed with how it works”, and when it comes to gaming, he says, “Just running is so nice because I can look to the sides and I don’t have to move the Quadstick left and right… I can (think where) to look and it will go where I want it to go.”

Now look, I am the last person anyone needs to warn about the dangers of transhumanism and connecting our brains to computers. Trust me, my alarm bells are ringing louder than ever.

But even I can’t shake the feeling that brain-computer interfaces, at least for now, within this particular project, could be put to good use — more than good, considering it’s a truly noble cause and is producing some amazing, game-changing results.