An Elon Musk company founded in 2016 to develop a brain-machine interface. Neuralink was created to help people with paralysis, blindness, memory loss, depression and pain addiction. About the diameter of a quarter, the Neuralink N1 implant is 8 mm thick with electrodes inserted three millimeters into the brain's outer layer (cerebral cortex) without anesthesia by a surgical robot. Worn all day and wirelessly recharged at night, Bluetooth connects the N1 to a smartphone or computer, and AI is used to interpret the brain signals.
The PRIME Clinical Trial
After successful experiments with pigs, Neuralink received approval from the FDA for its PRIME human trials in 2023 and requests for human participants began late in the year. PRIME stands for Precise Robotically Implanted Mind-machine Experience.
In January 2024, the first N1 was implanted into 29-year-old quadriplegic Nolan Arbaugh. Using Neuralink's Telepathy application, Arbaugh was able to play chess and a video game with his mind. A few months later, an N1 was successfully implanted into a second patient, and as of 2026, more than 20 people have been implanted. For the blind, the Neuralink Blindsight application is designed to input visual data. Stay tuned! See
brain-machine interface.