Neuralink’s disclosure last week that tiny wires inside the brain of its first patient had pulled out of position is an issue the Elon Musk company has known about for years, according to five people familiar with the matter.
The company knew from animal testing it had conducted ahead of its U.S. approval last year that the wires might retract, removing with them the sensitive electrodes that decode brain signals, three of the sources said. Neuralink deemed the risk low enough for a redesign not to be merited, the sources added.
The company said last week that the implant’s tiny wires, which are thinner than a human hair, retracted from a patient’s brain in its first human trial, resulting in fewer electrodes that could measure brain signals.
Implanted human brain-computer interfaces have been around since the 70s. And nowadays Parkinson’s patients routinely get stimulating electrodes implanted in far deeper (ie riskier) brain structures than Neuralink’s surface electrodes.
While I certainly don’t buy Musk’s hype regarding this technology, I also see no reason to believe that Neuralink will be significantly more dangerous than what we already have.
The warning signs were there. You should read about their animal trials. If you have a strong stomach.
Or, you know, read literally anything about Musk