- Neuralink, Elon Musk’s company, has already implanted a chip in a monkey’s brain that allows him to “play video games using his mind”.
- Musk stated this in an extensive interview at the Clubhouse on Sunday night
- Neuralink is focused on human-computer interfaces for artificial intelligence in people.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
Elon Musk’s human-computer interface company, Neuralink, is apparently starting strongly.
“We already have a monkey with a wireless implant in the skull and the tiny wires, which can play video games using the mind,” said Musk in a new interview.
“One of the things we’re trying to find out is whether we can get the monkeys to play ‘Pong’ with each other,” he told the hosts of the Good Time Show, a Clubhouse talk show. “That would be really cool.”
Neuralink has been testing neural interfaces on animals for years. In a video released last year, Neuralink demonstrated its work on a sow named Gertrude.
The Neuralink device in Gertrude’s brain transmitted live data during the demonstration while she sniffed.
Neuralink / YouTube
In this video, Neuralink demonstrated its ability to record and potentially predict actions based on a wired chip implanted in Gertrude’s brain.
But, according to Musk, the video game monkey was implanted with a wireless chip that enabled him to control an electronic interface with his mind alone.
“He’s not uncomfortable and he doesn’t look strange,” said Musk, “and you can’t even see where the neural implant was inserted.”
The wireless bit is particularly important, as it can eliminate the potential for infection that comes with wires coming out of organic material.
“If you can do experiments with something that does not involve wires that go through the skin, it will improve the welfare of animals,” Newcastle University professor of neuroscience Andrew Jackson told Insider last year.
Listen to the full interview here: