Neuralink implanted second trial patient with brain chip, Musk says

Elon Musk has said that his brain chip startup has implanted the second trial patient with the brain chip after a successful trial for the first patient.

Neuralink has successfully implanted in a second patient its device designed to give paralyzed patients the ability to use digital devices by thinking alone, according to the startup's owner Elon Musk.

Neuralink is in the process of testing its device, which is intended to help people with spinal cord injuries. The device has allowed the first patient to play video games, browse the internet, post on social media and move a cursor on his laptop.

Musk, in comments made during a podcast released late on Friday that ran more than eight hours, gave few details about the second participant beyond saying the person had a spinal cord injury similar to the first patient, who was paralyzed in a diving accident. Musk said 400 of the implant's electrodes on the second patient's brain are working. Neuralink on its website states that its implant uses 1,024 electrodes.

"I don't want to jinx it but it seems to have gone extremely well with the second implant," Musk told podcast host Lex Fridman. "There's a lot of signal, a lot of electrodes. It's working very well."

(For top technology news of the day, subscribe to our tech newsletter Today’s Cache)

Musk did not disclose when Neuralink performed the second patient's surgery. Musk said he expects Neuralink to provide the implants to eight more patients this year as part of its clinical trials.

The first patient, Noland Arbaugh, was also interviewed on the podcast, along with three Neuralink executives, who gave details about how the implant and the robot-led surgery work.