Elon Musk’s newest company is called Neuralink, and it wants to merge your brain with computers

Elon Musk’s newest company is called Neuralink, and it wants to merge your brain with computers

There is seemingly no limit to Elon Musk’s technological ambitions (Mars colonization, mass-produced electric vehicles, and a literal boring company, to name just a few). The SpaceX and Tesla CEO has now launched another company called Neuralink, and its stated aim is nothing less than helping humans merge their minds with software and computers.

These brain-computer interfaces could take the form of device implants in the brain, and could theoretically help us keep up with smarter artificial intelligences, improve memory, or even enable more direct and natural interactions with computers.

Musk’s ventures often appear pulled straight out of science fiction, and what Neuralink is proposing is a direct reference to something called a “neural lace”, a term coined by British author Iain M. Banks for his Culture series of novels.

In those books, characters grow a semi-organic mesh on their cerebral cortexes that function as a wireless brain-computer interface that also lets them create backups of their consciousness.

As it turns out, this idea may not be as far-fetched as it seems. In 2015, a group of researchers published a paper in the journal Nature Nanotechnology that detailed an ultra-fine mesh that could merge with the brain to create an interface between machine and brain matter.

The device was injected with a syringe, and the researchers successfully tested it on mice. The mouse brain cells even grew around the mesh and formed connections with the wires, effectively embracing rather than rejecting it.

That said, Neuralink won’t be gunning straight for Banks’ neural lace yet, and Musk thinks the company’s initial proof-of-concept products will be more down-to-earth things like electrode implants for treating epilepsy and depression.

The company will likely be funded by Musk or by the Founders Fund, a venture capital firm founded by Peter Thiel. According to The Wall Street Journal, it has already made three hires, including experts on flexible electrodes and how the brain controls movement.

In the meantime, there are plenty of obstacles to overcome. Brain surgery for complex implants remains risky and invasive, and there is still a very limited understanding of the intricate workings of neurons in the human brain.

However, Musk is optimistic, telling Vanity Fair that “a meaningful partial-brain interface” is only four or five years away.

Source: The Wall Street Journal