Musk: "Technology Enabling the Blind to See Awaiting Approval"

"Gradual Enhancement from Low Resolution"
Number of Brain Chip Clinical Trial Participants Increases

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, announced that Neuralink, the neurotechnology startup he founded, is preparing a technology that will enable people who have completely lost their vision to see again.

On January 28 (local time), CEO Musk stated on the social networking service X (formerly Twitter), "We have prepared our first vision augmentation technology for the blind and are awaiting regulatory approval." He further explained that this technology "will allow people who have completely lost their sight (totally blind) to start seeing in low resolution and gradually progress to higher resolution." Musk also added, "The next generation of Neuralink's cybernetic augmentation technology will be introduced at three times the performance by the end of this year."

Neuralink announced that, on this day marking two years since the company first implanted a coin-sized brain-computer interface (BCI) chip into the brain of quadriplegic patient Noland Arbaugh in 2024, the number of BCI clinical trial participants has increased to 21. The number of participants, which was 12 as of September last year, has grown by 9 in just four months. Arbaugh suffered a spinal cord injury in a diving accident eight years before the chip implantation, resulting in paralysis of his limbs. Since then, Neuralink has released videos showing Arbaugh playing video games and online chess using only his thoughts.

Neuralink stated, "Over the past two years, participants have been able to control computer cursors with their thoughts, browse the web, post on social media, and enjoy video games." The company added, "The goal of the clinical trial is to verify device performance through data in various environments and to enhance participant experience," and emphasized, "We aim to maintain our current record of 'zero side effects.'"

'Telepathy,' developed by Neuralink, is a device that implants a coin-sized chip in the brain and connects fine electrodes to convert brainwaves into computer signals. This device reads subtle electrical signals generated in specific areas of the brain and transmits them wirelessly to external devices. Neuralink aims to realize a new interface that not only restores physical functions but also connects human cognitive abilities with digital environments through this technology.