Company is seeking people with paralysis to test its experimental device after getting green light from independent review board

Elon Musk’s brain-implant startup, Neuralink, said it has received approval from an independent review board to begin recruiting patients for its first human trial. The company is seeking people with paralysis to test its experimental device in a six-year study.

Neuralink is one of several companies developing a brain-computer interface (BCI) that can collect and analyze brain signals. But its billionaire executive’s bombastic promotion of the company, including promises to develop an all-encompassing brain computer to help humans keep up with artificial intelligence, has attracted skepticism and raised ethical concerns among neuroscientists and other experts.

Last year, the Food and Drug Administration denied the company’s request to fast-track human trials, but in May approved Neuralink for an investigational device exemption (IDE) that allows a device to be used for clinical studies. The agency has not disclosed how its initial concerns were resolved.

  • @BradleyUffner
    link
    English
    921 year ago

    Personally, I think I’ll be avoiding anything that starts with “Elon Musk’s…”

    • cassetti
      link
      fedilink
      191 year ago

      Yeah, I certainly won’t use any product associated with that muskrat.

      • @cmbabul
        link
        141 year ago

        Things would have to seismically change in the tech/business world for me to trust any company enough to put something in my brain. That said, if I was forced to buy one the last two I would consider letting near my brain are Musk and Zuck

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      31 year ago

      Personally, I think I’ll be avoiding any device that can control my brain directly and has internet access, regardless of the owner.