Elon Musk’s Neuralink wants to implant chips inside human brains. Despite many controversies surrounding its animal testing, the FDA approved the start of human trials.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officially approved on Friday the start of human trials for the Neuralink brain chip. Neuralink is a company founded and managed by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, also CEO of Twitter and Tesla.
Neuralink’s declared mission is to implant chips inside human brains in order to cure inoperable diseases, including autism, depression and schizophrenia. According to Elon Musk, the chip could also allow internet browsing and telepathy.
Elon Musk has always been a strong advocate for this technology, going as far as to say he’d implant one inside his own children.
The company applied for human testing only last year, despite four separate announcements since 2019 that it would be “coming soon”.
The Food and Drug Administration had several issues with the chip’s safety. For example, the device’s lithium batteries could seriously damage the brain, according to an FDA employee. Furthermore, major concerns regarding the chip’s extraction without damaging the tissue and the possibility of the chip’s wires spreading through the brain were refraining the FDA from giving approval.
All of these issues have been presumably addressed by Neuralink. In a tweet following the announcement, Neuralink said: “This is the result of incredible work by the Neuralink team in close collaboration with the FDA and represents an important first step that will one day allow our technology to help many people.”
No further details have been posted regarding the start of human trials and the future steps the company will take.
The controversies surrounding Neuralink
Elon Musk’s company has been the subject of many controversies, both coming from the public and regarding Neuralink’s alleged felonies.
Last year, Neuralink was put under federal investigation following charges of animal cruelty. Allegedly, the company’s animal testing was causing needless suffering on test animals, which is illegal under the Animal Welfare Act.
In a separate investigation, the Department of Transportation is currently scrutinizing Neuralink’s possible illegal transport of dangerous pathogens. According to the official statement, Neuralink might have moved antibiotic-resistant pathogens including herpes B without the proper containment measures.
Then, Neuralink also received backlash from many in the scientific community. Technology Review said in 2020 that “Neuralink has provided no evidence that it can (or has even tried to) treat depression, insomnia, or a dozen other diseases that Musk mentioned in a slide”. Professor of neural interfaces Andrew Jackson also attacked the project, saying “I don’t think there was anything revolutionary in the presentation”.
But with human trials on their way, Neuralink now has its chances of proving critics wrong. Or proving them right.
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