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[00:00.04]Elon Musk says his company Neuralink

[00:04.28]has placed an experimental brain device

[00:08.16]in a person in the first human test of the technology.

[00:13.92]Neuralink describes the coin-sized device

[00:19.04]as a "brain-computer interface."

[00:22.68]It is designed to be implanted

[00:25.84]inside the brain through a medical operation.

[00:30.20]Musk announced the news

[00:32.88]on the social media service he owns, X.

[00:37.40]The billionaire businessman

[00:39.36]is also the owner of Tesla and SpaceX.

[00:43.84]His company Neuralink aims

[00:46.72]to establish direct communication links

[00:50.36]between the brain and computers.

[00:54.20]"The first human received an implant

[00:57.92]from @Neuralink (Sunday)

[01:00.68]and is recovering well," Musk wrote.

[01:04.32]He added that first results

[01:07.36]of the implanted device

[01:09.64]showed "promising neuron spike" activity.

[01:13.92]A spike is a term for a method neurons use

[01:19.52]to communicate with each other.

[01:21.96]The Cambridge Learner's Dictionary

[01:25.32]defines a neuron as "a nerve cell

[01:29.52]that carries messages

[01:31.60]between your brain and other parts of your body."

[01:35.92]The device includes

[01:38.24]an extremely small computer

[01:41.12]and extremely thin wires that connect

[01:44.36]to a part of the brain

[01:46.40]that controls intent of movement.

[01:50.08]Neuralink says the implant is designed

[01:54.32]to treat brain disorders

[01:56.68]and help serious back injury victims

[02:00.40]regain body movement.

[02:02.96]Company officials also say

[02:05.88]it might be used one day

[02:08.24]to help blind people see again.

[02:11.48]The company has said an early goal

[02:15.00]of the brain-computer interface

[02:17.52]will be to give people the ability

[02:20.80]to control basic computer tasks

[02:24.48]using thoughts alone.

[02:27.00]Musk says that in the future,

[02:30.48]the device might also be used

[02:33.04]to improve human intelligence

[02:36.00]in an effort to keep up with supercomputers

[02:39.80]and artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

[02:45.52]The U.S. Food and Drug Administration

[02:49.08](FDA)approved human testing

[02:52.68]of the Neuralink device last May.

[02:56.40]Neuralink reposted Musk's statement

[03:00.60]about the implant in a message on X.

[03:03.96]In another message on X,

[03:06.60]Musk wrote that the first Neuralink product

[03:10.88]is called "Telepathy."

[03:13.16]He said the goal of the product

[03:16.08]is to permit users to

[03:18.20]control smartphones or computers

[03:21.48]"just by thinking."

[03:23.16]Musk also noted the first users

[03:27.16]would be people who have lost

[03:29.52]the use of their arms or legs.

[03:32.36]It remains unclear

[03:35.04]how well the brain-computer interface system

[03:38.96]or similar devices will work in humans.

[03:43.24]FDA-approved trials,

[03:46.16]like the one permitted for Neuralink,

[03:49.36]aim to collect data on the safety

[03:52.92]and effectiveness of proposed products.

[03:57.20]Neuralink is not alone in developing systems

[04:01.84]designed to link

[04:03.52]the human nervous system to computers.

[04:07.20]The website clinicaltrials.gov reports

[04:12.24]there are currently more than 40

[04:14.72]brain computer interface trials

[04:17.92]going on in places around the world.

[04:21.60]Reuters reported that in the past,

[04:25.04]Neuralink was fined

[04:27.00]by the U.S. Department of Transportation

[04:30.24]for violating rules

[04:32.28]covering the movement of dangerous substances.

[04:36.32]The fines against Neuralink

[04:39.40]totaled $2,480 and the company agreed

[04:45.24]to fix its problems concerning the violations,

[04:49.40]the news agency said.

[04:52.40]Neuralink carried out earlier trials

[04:55.56]of the implant using monkeys, pigs and sheep.

[05:00.04]Reuters has also reported

[05:02.92]on the company's animal experiments in the past.

[05:07.00]Some Neuralink employees told Reuters in 2022

[05:12.92]the company had made mistakes in its animal testing.

[05:17.24]They said the mistakes came

[05:20.32]because the process was hurried.

[05:23.08]This led to more animal deaths

[05:25.92]than necessary, the employees said.

[05:29.84]In one 2021 case,

[05:33.00]Reuters reported that Neuralink

[05:35.68]implanted 25 out of 60 pigs

[05:39.56]with the wrong-sized devices.

[05:42.88]All the pigs were later killed.

[05:46.12]Employees told the news agency

[05:49.12]such mistakes could have been

[05:51.32]easily avoided with more preparation.

[05:54.88]Last September, Musk wrote

[05:58.44]in a social media message that

[06:00.88]"no monkey has died

[06:03.04]as a result of a Neuralink implant."

[06:06.80]He added that the company chose

[06:09.76]"terminal" monkeys to limit risks to healthy animals.

[06:15.36]I'm Bryan Lynn.

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Words in This Story

interface – n. a connection between two pieces of electronic equipment, or between a person and a computer

implant – n. a device placed inside the body in a medical operation

spike – n. a sudden change or rise in something

intent – n. what a person wants and plans to do

blind – adj. lacking or deficient in sight

terminal – adj. nearing or close to death: being in the final stages of a deadly disease