Elon Musk’s Neuralink begins brain chip tests on pigs, with aim to cure human diseases one day

The billionaire’s new start-up, which wants to put computer chips in human brains, is testing its technology in pigs

Neuralink’s aim is to cure neurological conditions like dementia and ultimately fuse humankind with AI

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Dorothy, one of the pigs being in used in Neuralink’s research. Photo: YouTube

Published: 10:19am, 29 Aug 2020Updated: 6:43pm, 29 Aug 2020

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s neuroscience start-up Neuralink has unveiled a pig named Gertrude that has had a coin-sized computer chip in its brain for two months, showing off an early step toward the goal of curing human diseases with the same type of implant.

The California-based Neuralink, co-founded by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Musk in 2016, aims to implant wireless brain-computer interfaces that include thousands of electrodes in the most complex human organ to help cure neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s, dementia and spinal cord injuries and ultimately fuse humankind with artificial intelligence.

“An implantable device can actually solve these problems,” Musk said on a webcast on Friday, mentioning ailments such as memory loss, hearing loss, depression and insomnia.

Neuralink has three pigs with two brain implants each. Photo: YouTube

Musk did not provide a timeline for those treatments, appearing to retreat from earlier statements that human trials would begin by the end of this year.

Neuralink’s first clinical trials with a small number of human patients would be aimed at treating paralysis or paraplegia, the company’s head surgeon Dr Matthew MacDougall said.