Neuralink

[Sigmetnow]

Ellie in Space interviews Norland Aurbaugh, the first Neuralink Participant.
 
    https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1nAKEadYPvlKL

5/20/24, https://x.com/esherifftv/status/1792646880792354990
 
1h12m. Includes new details, e.g.:  he can’t use the implant while charging it (about an hour), since both processes generate heat, and using both simultaneously might make it too warm.
Special guests at the end: Norland’s mom, and the friend who helped fill out Norland’s Neuralink application, pretty much as a joke, and who “didn’t expect my drinking to end up on CNN.”

[Sigmetnow]

NEWS: Neuralink has started accepting patient applications in the UK for its brain computer chip implant.
5/30/24, https://x.com/sawyermerritt/status/1796349620152680942

[Sigmetnow]

🤔

< Would you install a Neuralink interface on your brain to allow you to control your new X phone by thinking?
 
Elon Musk
In the future, there will be no phones, just Neuralinks
 
6/16/24, https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1802517673584341082

 
——
Elon Musk on the impermanence of civilizations: “Did people speak English 4,000 years ago? No. Will they speak English 4,000 years from now? Probably not.”
 
➡️ pic.twitter.com/XDt21ztOza 

[Sigmetnow]

Noland Arbaugh @ModdedQuad
Thanks for having me on @joerogan let's do it again sometime
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7CY9RWfGhkGa1zKPXhyizm
 
6/20/24, 2:19 PM https://x.com/moddedquad/status/1803855089876242533
 
Joe Rogan Experience #2167 - Noland Arbaugh - YouTube
1h 36m  June 20, 2024
 


Elon Musk
Noland and I discussed a possible second Neuralink (next gen version) that would allow his other brain hemisphere to interact telepathically with his computer.
This would be like having two-handed control ability, the equivalent of mouse and keyboard.
6/20/24, https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1803872928968380795
 
Noland Arbaugh
This is perfect because my right hemisphere has been pretty jealous of my left hemisphere lately. Alternatively, if you just want to replace my entire skull with one giant @neuralink I'd be down with that too.
6/20/24, 4:40 PM https://x.com/moddedquad/status/1803890748464730213

[Sigmetnow]

A wonderful, very nerdy discussion with Noland on how his Neuralink works.

Farzad
Neuralink's First Patient Leaves Us Speechless.
Noland Arbaugh @ModdedQuad, @neuralink's first brain chip patient, joins us for an in-depth look into some truly mind blowing stuff (pun intended).
You do not want to miss this one.
@HansCNelson 
6/30/24, https://x.com/farzyness/status/1807398689985777956
 
➡️ pic.twitter.com/NSKGlZN31A  86 min. (Watchable at 1.5 or 1.75 speed.)

The brain continually shifts what neurons fire for what. One day, a neuron may fire for one finger, and later, for another.
He knows the sign language alphabet, so he can think about making a letter with his hand and the system is learning to recognize that letter.
At the beginning, he needed 45 minutes at the start of each day to remap the calibration.  In the past couple weeks, he hasn’t needed to do that at all.  Might relate to the threads moving, back then.  There’s no evidence they are moving anymore.
 
Neuralink sends brain signals to an app.  In the future, could thoughts be transferred?  Need to “click accept” before sharing thoughts and feelings with people you meet? Ability to translate. Share how someone else perceives music, art.
How his relationship with God changed with his accident, and with Neuralink.
He’s looking forward to controlling an Optimus robot.

 
They mention that Tim Urban has a great piece on Neuralink and how it works.
Read it here:
Neuralink and the Brain's Magical Future — Wait But Why
April 20, 2017 By Tim Urban
https://waitbutwhy.com/2017/04/neuralink.html

[Sigmetnow]

Live video update with Neuralink folks, and the neurosurgeon.  (No Noland.)

Neuralink
 
https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1zqKVYQDZRPxB
 

7/10/24, https://x.com/neuralink/status/1811095113281720722
 56 min
 
- - - -
EDIT:

Improved version of @neuralink update

7/11/24, https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1811349732809113823
 
➡️ pic.twitter.com/zk3cdbMtEC  39 min. Live version had audio glitches.
 

Elon Musk
Over 1000 is achievable in 2026

7/11/24, 6:31 AM.    https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1811347606359986281
 
- - - - -
 
Some notes:
 
Neurosurgeons usually adjust CO2 blood concentration to shrink the brain during surgery.  That process may have caused Noland’s electrodes to retract.  In the future, may not shrink the brain; may actually swell it a bit, to help with insertion.

Next version, 3,000 channels.

Next phase of rollout? Now moving to second patient. High single digits this year if things go well.
Few years, hopefully thousands, if regulations allow.

Wheelchair with Bluetooth interface? We should do that soon.  Need to program safety limits, so you don’t roll off a cliff…

Could communicate with Optimus without talking, if patient has loss of speech.  Extremely helpful for paraplegics to have a robot they can physically control.  Biggest request: I need a scratch.  And, being able to feed yourself without depending on other humans.
We could attach Optimus arms or legs to a person, so brain signals activate those.  Cyberpunk upgrades, better than biological limbs.

Multi-tasking: Check out Noland’s X streams. He’s playing a video game while talking, answering questions.
By choice, he’s using the implant about 70 hours a week.  What other device do you use that much?
Session lasts 4-5 hours.  45 min to charge.  Next version should be double that.  Charge while sleeping.  Can you recharge it yourself?  Noland can: we put the charger in a beanie cap.  He can start it by saying “charge” (or “energize”).  Limitations due to warmth of the unit against the brain while charging.

[morganism]

 Neuralink Will Offer Telepathy and then Brain Control of Teslabots

Neuralink will double the bandwidth of its devices with more accurate placement of the threads into the brain. The next generation device will have 3000 channels. The company’s first system, called Telepathy, centers around 64 threads that are inserted directly into the brain. The threads are thinner than a human hair and record neural signals through 1,024 electrodes. They will double the bandwidth with minimal modifications. The next generation device will be about 25-50 times the bandwidth.

They want to go from 10 bits per second to megabits and eventually gigabit is possible.

If someone who does not have the of their arms, then telepathic control of a Teslabot would let someone disabled scratch themselves and feed themselves. It could communicate to any device with a bluetooth connection. It could connect to a powered wheelchair or a smartphone.

Neuralink has placed a device in spinal cord model in animals. This restored motor function in animals.
(more)

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/07/neuralink-will-offer-telepathy-and-then-brain-control-of-teslabots.html#more-196425

[Sigmetnow]

NEWS: According to a recent Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) filing, Neuralink is building a $14.7 million campus on 37 [acres] in Del Valle, TX.
 
Construction plans for the new 112,000 sq-ft facility include a 3-story building with offices, a machine shop, and a cleanroom for device manufacturing.
 
Neuralink has owned the location for a while, but work officially began on Monday, July 15, and is expected to be completed by the end of May 2025. If the location is correct, looking at Google Maps, it is already well on its way. 2200 Caldwell Lane, Del Valle, TX 78617.
 
It is 20 minutes away from both Giga Texas or SpaceX in Bastrop.
 
H/T @Upsilz 

7/17/24, 10:13 PM    https://x.com/serobinsonjr/status/1813759039093772357
 
pic.twitter.com/lDgTWs6ehW  satellite map of the location.

Elon Musk's Neuralink to build $14.7M offices in the Austin area
The California-based company is planning a multi-building campus.
Cristela Jones July 12, 2024
https://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/neuralink-texas-19569383.php

[Sigmetnow]

Wes ⁦‪@weslouis_‬⁩

Interesting hypothesis on Lucid Dreaming by Neuroscientist J. Allan Hobson.

The dorsolateral PFC is brain region we’ve performed neuromodulation on the most during waking-state.

Right now, we are working on REM sleep detection (EOG) so we can stimulate the dlPFC during REM.
 
7/2/24, https://x.com/weslouis_/status/1808184587660808639

⬇️ pic.twitter.com/Xjoz0ImZDS

[Sigmetnow]

Lex Fridman
Here's my 8.5 hour conversation with @elonmusk & @neuralink team.

It is the longest podcast I've ever done! 🤯 It's a fascinating, super technical, and wide-ranging conversation.

It's here on X & everywhere else, including YouTube:
 


On X, it's split up into 3 parts (in replies to this post) due to the current 4 hour limit for video. I continue to push the X engineering team to increase the limit... up it to 10 hours let's go! 🤣

Thank you to Elon Musk, DJ Seo, Matthew MacDougall, and Bliss Chapman who are part of the amazing Neuralink team: @elonmusk, @djseo_, @matthewmacdoug4, and @chapman_bliss.

And thank you to Noland Arbaugh (@ModdedQuad) who is the first human to have a Neuralink device implanted in his brain.

Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction
0:49 - Elon Musk
4:06 - Telepathy
10:45 - Power of human mind
15:12 - Future of Neuralink
20:27 - Ayahuasca
29:57 - Merging with AI
34:44 - xAI
36:57 - Optimus
43:47 - Elon's approach to problem-solving
1:01:23 - History and geopolitics
1:05:53 - Lessons of history
1:10:12 - Collapse of empires
1:17:55 - Time
1:20:37 - Aliens and curiosity
1:28:12 - DJ Seo
1:36:20 - Neural dust
1:43:03 - History of brain–computer interface
1:51:07 - Biophysics of neural interfaces
2:01:36 - How Neuralink works
2:07:26 - Lex with Neuralink implant
2:27:24 - Digital telepathy
2:38:27 - Retracted threads
2:44:01 - Vertical integration
2:50:55 - Safety
3:00:50 - Upgrades
3:09:53 - Future capabilities
3:39:09 - Matthew MacDougall
3:44:58 - Neuroscience
3:52:07 - Neurosurgery
4:03:11 - Neuralink surgery
4:22:20 - Brain surgery details
4:38:03 - Implanting Neuralink on self
4:53:57 - Life and death
5:03:17 - Consciousness
5:06:11 - Bliss Chapman
5:19:27 - Neural signal
5:26:19 - Latency
5:30:59 - Neuralink app
5:35:40 - Intention vs action
5:46:54 - Calibration
5:56:26 - Webgrid
6:19:28 - Neural decoder
6:40:03 - Future improvements
6:48:59 - Noland Arbaugh
6:49:08 - Becoming paralyzed
7:02:43 - First Neuralink human participant
7:06:45 - Day of surgery
7:24:31 - Moving mouse with brain
7:49:50 - Webgrid
7:57:52 - Retracted threads
8:06:16 - App improvements
8:13:01 - Gaming
8:23:59 - Future Neuralink capabilities
8:26:55 - Controlling Optimus robot
8:31:16 - God
8:33:21 - Hope
 
➡️   pic.twitter.com/e0AjrQYFLy
 
8/2/24, https://x.com/lexfridman/status/1819438421430915109

   —-
Lex Fridman
Here's Part 1 with @elonmusk and @djseo_. Elon Musk is CEO of Neuralink, SpaceX, Tesla, xAI, and CTO of X. DJ Seo is COO & President of @neuralink.
8/2/24, https://x.com/lexfridman/status/1819438423855280373
 
➡️ pic.twitter.com/Zk9c83seCb  219 min
 
   —-
Lex Fridman
Here's Part 2 with @MatthewMacDoug4 and @chapman_bliss. Matthew MacDougall is Head Neurosurgeon at Neuralink. Bliss Chapman is Brain Interface Software Lead at @neuralink.
8/2/24, https://x.com/lexfridman/status/1819438434445840538
 
➡️ pic.twitter.com/CPpQy2uIWJ  190 min

—-
Lex Fridman
Here's Part 3 with @ModdedQuad. Noland Arbaugh is the first human to have a @neuralink device implanted in his brain.
8/2/24, https://x.com/lexfridman/status/1819438442473816450
 
➡️ pic.twitter.com/wSlCKcSgeV   107 min

[Sigmetnow]

In the above video, Musk said that Neuralink has implanted its brain chip into a second human.

“It seems to have gone extremely well with the second patient.”

He suggested up to ten people might have the procedure done this year.

[Sigmetnow]

Also in the above video, when DJ Seo talked about other BCI compared to Neuralink, he mentioned the “Utah Array.”  Lex looked it up and nearly fell off his chair laughing.

⬇️ Screencaps below: the Neuralink N1, and the Utah Array

[nadir]

Neuralink is another hyped scam by Elon Musk

[Sigmetnow]

Neuralink is another hyped scam by Elon Musk

The video conveniently ignores about 90% of what Noland has already accomplished with his current Neuralink chip, so it’s not surprising that the video’s vague insinuations about Neuralink’s future Blindsight product are equally misleading.

The video shows a brief clip of Noland playing chess.  But no clips of him playing more active video games, like Civ 6, which are easily available, since Noland streamed it live on 𝕏.
 
In one of the clips in the Study Progress blog below, Noland is using the Link to play Mario Kart on a Nintendo Switch console — something he had not been able to do since his spinal cord injury — against a non-disabled friend on the same screen.  Can you tell who is playing which side?
PRIME Study Progress Update — User Experience | Blog | Neuralink
https://neuralink.com/blog/prime-study-progress-update-user-experience/
 
100 Days Later, Neuralink’s First Human Patient Is Now Using His Brain Implant to Play Slay the Spire - IGN
"...the games I can play now are leaps and bounds better than previous ones".
https://www.ign.com/articles/100-days-later-neuralinks-first-human-patient-is-now-using-his-brain-implant-to-play-slay-the-spire

 
The video also doesn’t mention that Noland has set new BCI speed records with his implant with Webgrid. (Discussed starting @ 5:56:26 in the Lex Fridman video.)

—-
 
Re Blindsight:  The video makes only a passing reference to the fact that an implant which enables a blind person to see even just edges and shadows would help immensely to improve their mobility and safety.  Dismissing early low-res solutions, insinuating that anything less than perfect clarity is worthless, shows incognizance of the needs of the millions of the disabled whose lives could be helped significantly with much less while the tech improves to levels Musk has discussed.
 
The video shows computer simulations and other vision tech that doesn’t work, but says nothing about the actual results the Neuralink Blindsight team has already had.

—-
Oh, and the FDA approved a second Neuralink “telepathy” implant — the participant has received it and at last report is doing well.

[SteveMDFP]

Re Blindsight:  The video makes only a passing reference to the fact that an implant which enables a blind person to see even just edges and shadows would help immensely to improve their mobility and safety.  Dismissing early low-res solutions, insinuating that anything less than perfect clarity is worthless, shows incognizance of the needs of the millions of the disabled whose lives could be helped significantly with much less while the tech improves to levels Musk has discussed.

Not at all true.  Sabine here acknowledges that even vague shapes for vision is much preferable to complete blindness.  Her skepticism is specifically directed at the assertion that this approach could produce vision of higher resolution than natural vision.  On this specific issue, her skepticism is well-founded.

[Sigmetnow]

Sabine here acknowledges that even vague shapes for vision is much preferable to complete blindness.

I’ll admit she made a passing reference to it.

Her skepticism is specifically directed at the assertion that this approach could produce vision of higher resolution than natural vision.  On this specific issue, her skepticism is well-founded.

Cameras can zoom in to provide better than 20/20 vision, or infra-red images, etc.  Signals from such cameras can be fed to the visual cortex, which, with enough electrodes to approach the resolution of normal vision, would thus have “super-human” sight.

⬇️  Below, DJ Seo, COO and President of Neuralink, and camera eyeglasses, from the Lex Fridman video.

[SteveMDFP]

\
Cameras can zoom in to provide better than 20/20 vision, or infra-red images, etc.  Signals from such cameras can be fed to the visual cortex, which, with enough electrodes to approach the resolution of normal vision, would thus have “super-human” sight.

Well, yes, a *camera* can obtain image resolution as fine as you like.  But delivering that image resolution to a brain's visual cortex is never going to achieve perceived resolution to match the synthetic image quality.  That is, quite a bit of processing of the retina's signal happens *before* that image gets relayed to the visual cortex.  Without a detailed understanding of what processing happens in the natural system, it's not possible to deliver good fidelity information to the cortex, no matter how many hundreds of electrodes you implant.

Neural science is dizzyingly complex.  Actually sussing out what precise processing happens to that retinal information will require studying in conscious humans.  Otherwise, you just can't be sure -- vision at that level of detail is ultimately a subjective experience.  Who is going to allow invasive studies of living humans simply to determine normal signal processing?  It would inevitably endanger a person's vision, and wouldn't be ethical.

But what's available now is far better than nothing for a totally blind individual.  There will be be more implants.  We can certainly expect refinement of results to improve usability of these implanted systems.

It's impressive technology.  We certainly can look forward to improved results for blind individuals.  But as a *business* proposition, the approach seems like madness to be.  Costs of development are extremely high, and the available market will be comparatively tiny.  Few individuals or insurers are going to be prepared to fork over literally millions of dollar per implant.  It's nice that Elon is donating the development costs for this.  Maybe, in decades, cost per implant can come down to something tolerable for the wealthy, that would be nice.  But if Neuralink were a separate company, it's about the last place I'd invest any dollars.

[Sigmetnow]

Cameras can zoom in to provide better than 20/20 vision, or infra-red images, etc.  Signals from such cameras can be fed to the visual cortex, which, with enough electrodes to approach the resolution of normal vision, would thus have “super-human” sight.

Well, yes, a *camera* can obtain image resolution as fine as you like.  But delivering that image resolution to a brain's visual cortex is never going to achieve perceived resolution to match the synthetic image quality. That is, quite a bit of processing of the retina's signal happens *before* that image gets relayed to the visual cortex. 

That’s what the Neuralink software does!  Determines which electrodes, singly or in groups, does what, and where.  It’s not a direct connection.
 
For vision, stimulating implanted electrodes in order to map out a visual field, the software will build up a cohesive neuronal layout, nothing like the rectangular camera image, and eventually it will be able to map the image to the cortex.

Without a detailed understanding of what processing happens in the natural system, it's not possible to deliver good fidelity information to the cortex, no matter how many hundreds of electrodes you implant.

Hundreds?  The “skeptic” video showed a grainy image that might be generated with the current implant’s 1,000 electrodes, but didn’t mention that by the end of this year Neuralink expects their implant to have 3,000 to 6,000 electrodes — and 16,000 by end of next year.  With one implant on each side, that’s 32,000 electrodes.  And no doubt, there will be even more in future years.  Has any other BCI system had that many?  And when you add in the advanced, continually-evolving software, this system seems well beyond any other implant it has been compared to.

Neural science is dizzyingly complex.  Actually sussing out what precise processing happens to that retinal information will require studying in conscious humans.  Otherwise, you just can't be sure -- vision at that level of detail is ultimately a subjective experience.  Who is going to allow invasive studies of living humans simply to determine normal signal processing?  It would inevitably endanger a person's vision, and wouldn't be ethical.

If a person is totally blind, how would an implant endanger their vision?
The team will develop ways for a blind person to indicate where on their visual field a stimulated electrode has fired.  Perhaps by touch on a tactile test pad.  Then by generating patterns.
 
Of course, Neuralink is performing Blindsight studies on animals, first, with FDA oversight.
They’ve described how they’ve identified electrodes that register a dot in a certain position in a sighted monkey’s visual field, and verified that the animal perceives a dot when they “write” to it.  Of course it’s not a simple “one pixel for one neuron” solution — they understand the complexity from Noland’s testing — but, for example, they are able to tell from N1 signals how far away from the electrode the neuron is, and whether a particular combination of electrodes produces the desired effect.

But what's available now is far better than nothing for a totally blind individual.  There will be be more implants.  We can certainly expect refinement of results to improve usability of these implanted systems.
…
It's impressive technology.  We certainly can look forward to improved results for blind individuals.  But as a *business* proposition, the approach seems like madness to be.  Costs of development are extremely high, and the available market will be comparatively tiny.  Few individuals or insurers are going to be prepared to fork over literally millions of dollar per implant.  It's nice that Elon is donating the development costs for this.  Maybe, in decades, cost per implant can come down to something tolerable for the wealthy, that would be nice.  But if Neuralink were a separate company, it's about the last place I'd invest any dollars.

Neuralink is a separate company, although it’s a private, not a publicly-traded, one.  Given the immense potential revenue of this revolutionary product, investors have already given over $500 million dollars, and the company has been valued at over $5 billion.
 
How to Invest in Neuralink Stock

Elon Musk initially invested $100 million in Neuralink back in 2016 and is still the largest shareholder.
 
Since then, the company has raised an additional $452 million from a number of private investors such as Google Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners, Craft Ventures, DFJ Growth, Dreamers VC, Future Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI), and up to 9 other investors and firms.
 
Most recently, Peter Thiel's Founders Fund led a $280 million round in August 2023. In June, employee stock sales valued the company at $5 billion, so we can assume this round was raised near that valuation.

https://stockanalysis.com/article/invest-in-neuralink-stock/

Neuralink is developing an automated implant system that the company thinks will eventually compare to LASIK eye surgery, requiring a minimal or no hospital stay — Participant 1, Noland Arbaugh, went home the day after his implant surgery!
The implant is already being produced at some volume, for quality testing.  A major intent is for the tech to be affordable, so that it can be made available to the millions who need it.

[Sigmetnow]

—- Neuralink:  Early progress with our second participant
8/21/24, 5:12 PM https://x.com/neuralink/status/1826366877188456894
 
< “Alex broke the previous world record for brain-computer interface (BCI) cursor control on day one of using the Link.”

2nd Neuralink patient Alex plays the first-person shooter game Counter-Strike 2 on his laptop computer using the Link.
Alex playing Counter-Strike 2:
8/21/24, 5:28 PM ➡️  https://x.com/ajtourville/status/1826370825139687779
 40 sec. vid. Moves around the sim environment really well.
 
PRIME Study Progress Update — Second Participant

Last month, Alex,* the second participant in our PRIME Study,** received his Neuralink implant (Link). The surgery, conducted at the Barrow Neurological Institute, went well — Alex was discharged the following day, and his recovery has been smooth. With the Link, he has been improving his ability to play video games and began learning how to use computer-aided design (CAD) software to design 3D objects. This marks another significant step towards providing a high-performance interface that will enhance the control of digital devices for people with quadriplegia to help restore their autonomy.

The overarching aim for the PRIME Study is to demonstrate that the Link is safe and useful in daily life, as noted in our last blog post. In this blog post, we share updates from the experience of our second participant across three key dimensions that support this aim:
 
Out-of-the-box experience
Repertoire of capabilities
Thread retraction mitigations

Out-of-the-Box Experience
From the first moment Alex connected his Link to his computer, it took less than 5 minutes for him to start controlling a cursor with his mind. Within a few hours, he was able to surpass the maximum speed and accuracy he’d achieved with any other assistive technology on our Webgrid task. Similar to Noland, our first participant, Alex broke the previous world record for brain-computer interface (BCI) cursor control on day one of using the Link. After the first research session concluded, Alex continued testing the capabilities of the Link independently, using it to play the first-person shooter game Counter-Strike 2.

“I’m already super impressed with how this works.”
— Alex, PRIME Study participant

(Fig 01)
Alex using the Link to play Webgrid.

Repertoire of Capabilities
Alex enjoys building things. Before his spinal cord injury, he worked as an automotive technician, fixing and tinkering with various types of vehicles and large machinery. Since then, he has wanted to learn how to design 3D objects using computer-aided design (CAD) software so he could work on projects without needing to rely extensively on his support system. However, the level of control offered by his assistive technologies made this challenging.

On day two of using the Link, Alex used the CAD software Fusion 360 for the first time and managed to design a custom mount for his Neuralink charger, which was then 3D printed and integrated into his setup. We are working with Alex to increase his productivity with the Link by mapping intended movements to different types of mouse clicks (e.g., left, right, middle), thereby expanding the number of controls he has and enabling him to quickly switch between various modes in CAD software (e.g., zoom, scroll, pan, click-and-drag).

In his free time, Alex continues to use CAD software to turn his design ideas into reality. We hope that in time, the Link helps many people create in their areas of interest and expertise, and we’re excited to work with more people to help them reconnect with their passions.

“Taking an idea, putting it as a design, and actually having a physical item as a finished product makes me feel like I’m building things again.”
— Alex, PRIME Study participant

(Fig 02)
In this video, Alex uses his Link to carve out the center of the custom mount for his Neuralink charger (finished product shown in Fig 03). On the right side of his screen is a mode switcher — a user interface element developed by Neuralink — which he leverages to quickly change the functionality of his mouse.

(Fig 03)
To the right of Alex’s laptop is a 3D-printed charger mount that he designed using his Link.

Alex also enjoys playing first-person shooter games, which generally require the use of numerous inputs, including two separate joysticks (one for aiming and the other for moving) and an array of buttons. Before receiving the Link, Alex enjoyed playing these games using an assistive device called the Quadstick — a mouth operated joystick with sip-and-puff pressure sensors and a lip position sensor for clicking. However, a key limitation of the controller is that it only has one joystick, restricting Alex to either moving or aiming at any given time. Switching from moving to aiming involves letting go of the joystick and then sipping or puffing into a separate straw to toggle the functionality. Now, Alex is able to use the Link in combination with his Quadstick to move and aim simultaneously, unlocking a more intuitive gameplay experience.

“Just running around is so enjoyable because I can look side to side, and not need to move Quadstick left and right… I can [think about where to] look and it goes where I want it to. It's insane.”
— Alex, PRIME Study participant

(Fig 04)
Alex playing Counter-Strike 2.

Thread Retraction Mitigations
With our first participant, Noland, we observed a degree of thread retraction that temporarily reduced his BCI performance. The threads have stabilized, and the performance of Noland’s Link has since recovered — more than doubling the prior world record for BCI cursor control.

To reduce the probability of thread retraction in our second participant, we implemented a number of mitigations, including reducing brain motion during the surgery and reducing the gap between the implant and the surface of the brain. We discussed these measures in greater detail in our live update prior to our second participant’s surgery.
Promisingly, we have observed no thread retraction in our second participant.

Looking Forward
To further enhance our participants’ experience using their digital devices, we are continuing to expand the controls that are available to them. We are working on decoding multiple clicks and multiple simultaneous movement intents to deliver full mouse and video game controller functionality. We are also developing algorithms to recognize handwriting intent to enable faster text entry. These capabilities would not only help restore digital autonomy for those who are unable to use their limbs, but also restore the ability to communicate for those who are unable to speak, such as people with neurological conditions like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Additionally, we plan to enable the Link to interact with the physical world, allowing users to feed themselves and move more independently by controlling a robotic arm or their wheelchair.

“The Link is a big step on the path of regaining freedom and independence for myself.”
— Alex, PRIME Study participant

Join the Neuralink Community
If you are excited to restore autonomy to those with unmet medical needs, consider applying to our open roles. If you are interested in shaping the future of assistive technologies by participating in a Neuralink clinical trial, please join our Patient Registry.

* Name shared at the request of the participant.
** The PRIME Study — an investigational medical device trial for our fully implantable, wireless brain-computer interface (BCI) — aims to evaluate the safety of our implant and surgical robot, and assess the initial functionality of our BCI for enabling people with quadriplegia to control external devices with their thoughts. We do not guarantee any benefit by participating in the PRIME Study.

https://neuralink.com/blog/prime-study-progress-update-second-participant/

[Sigmetnow]

—- Neuralink Participant-1 update

Noland Arbaugh
@ModdedQuad

Today is seven months since I had my surgery. Here's a quick update.

Currently
 I'm in session with the great staff at Neuralink Monday through Friday for roughly four hours each day.
I'm working on using different body parts and movements for left, right, and middle click.
I'm also doing lots of work with handwriting. As in, imagining I'm holding a pencil, and writing characters to outputting keystrokes.
I'm also doing lots of experiments on a daily basis to try and make everything better for all those who come after me. Whether that's improving the user interface, improving the user experience, or just overall performance.
And of course, I'm constantly pushing myself to try and break as many records as I can. I'm so close to breaking a couple more!

In my free time
 Eve (what I've named my @neuralink  device) and I have been working towards improving myself in many different ways.
Currently, I'm learning French and Japanese for roughly three hours a day using a few different resources.
I also decided to relearn my math from the ground up in preparation for hopefully going back to school one day.
I've been using the @petersonacademy for a little over an hour each day to try and educate myself in other areas in which I'm interested.
I spend at least an hour reading each day, from @BrandSanderson to Stieg Larsson, Tolkien to Hugo,  and more.
I've begun my creative writing again.  I'd like to publish one day.
And of course I've been using it to do devotionals and Bible studies.

Looking forward
 I'm trying to get back to school--hopefully at my alma mater-- because I'd like nothing more than to finish my degree. Or possibly switch degrees and focus more on neuroscience since I might have some insight to the field at this point. Maybe I can be useful. I'm also considering trying to find work and be a productive member of society again. I still have a dream of starting a charity and even building my parents a home one day. I would like to stream more and be a better advocate and interact more with the community, those are things in which I am confident I can be better. But right now I'm just doing what I can.

I really did mean for this to be a quick update so I'm sorry for the novella. Ultimately, I'm having a blast and my life has improved so much in such a short time. It's hard to even put into words.

And thank you for supporting me in this journey. Y'all have made this experience for me unbelievably amazing. The messages I've received have made me cry in the best possible way, made me physically laugh out loud, and helped me grow as a person. I couldn't be more grateful.

I have a lot more exciting things to come, so stay tuned.

Noland & Eve, a.k.a. P1

8/29/24, https://x.com/moddedquad/status/1829029030408138995
 
< This made me cry happy tears. The hope you bring to people like me (my mom has ALS) is immeasurable. She has an eye gaze machine that does not work well at all in tracking her pupils. The future is looking positive through your eyes. Please post more achievements: languages for the right brain, math for the left plus a lot of neuroplasticity, so cool, but so much hard work! ! People feel hopeful. Thanks again.

 
====
 
NEW INTERVIEW
 
Lenka Houskova White
@white_lenka
 
🚨Neuralink Brain Chip Performance is “Steadily Increasing” - Noland
This is the full interview with the first Neuralink device user @ModdedQuad, Noland Arbaugh, about his:
experience using the device, current Neuralink experiments, and the future.

⏰ Timeline ⏰

00:00 Evaluating his experience with the Neuralink chip
02:00 Experiments with handwriting
03:26 Other ongoing experiments with chip
04:14 Approvals from FDA
06:30 Phone applications
08:00 Advantages/disadvantages of Neuralink chip
09:33 Do you get tired from the chip?
13:25 Descriptions of different movements
15:37 How long did it take to adjust to the new “thinking/movement”
17:26 Decision-Making process to apply for Neuralink
22:00 Elon Musk
23:27 Media coverage of Neuralink
27:19 Application process at Neuralink
28:49 What happens after the study is over?
31:30 Optimus robot / Neuralink
34:15 Neuralink chip is a successful experiment

Video Editor @DeffGeff
8/10/24, 12:57 PM
 
Watch on 𝕏 ➡️  https://x.com/white_lenka/status/1822316287315370064
 
Or Youtube:
Neuralink Brain Chip’s Performance has Been Steadily Increasing - First User Noland says
➡️  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apjhRqJbR_U&feature=youtu.be

[Sigmetnow]

—- Neuralink Participant-1 update
…
Neuralink Brain Chip’s Performance has Been Steadily Increasing - First User Noland says
➡️  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apjhRqJbR_U&feature=youtu.be

 
@ min 33:  Noland notes he only has about 15% of his electrodes still embedded (Range, 5% - 25%) — yet because of the Neuralink team’s software updates, he can still do more than when he first got the chip, before the threads retracted. 
 
So imagine what someone with 80-90% of their electrodes working might be able to accomplish.

[Sigmetnow]

Neuralink
 
We have received Breakthrough Device Designation from the FDA for Blindsight.
 
Join us in our quest to bring back sight to those who have lost it. Apply to our Patient Registry and openings on our career page neuralink.com
 
https://neuralink.com
 
9/17/24, 3:00 PM https://x.com/neuralink/status/1836118060308271306


The Blindsight device from Neuralink will enable even those who have lost both eyes and their optic nerve to see.
 
Provided the visual cortex is intact, it will even enable those who have been blind from birth to see for the first time.
 
To set expectations correctly, the vision will be at first be low resolution, like Atari graphics, but eventually it has the potential be better than natural vision and enable you to see in infrared, ultraviolet or even radar wavelengths, like Geordi La Forge.
 
Much appreciated, @US_FDA! 
 
9/17/24, 3:10 PM https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1836120537883644049

[Sigmetnow]

The "Breakthrough Device Designation" by the FDA for Neuralink's Blindsight
 
means expedited development, assessment, and priority review, assigned to medical devices that promise to offer significant advantages over existing treatments or technologies.  Thus, the device can potentially reach patients sooner than it might have without this status.

The designation validates Neuralink's technology as potentially groundbreaking. It indicates that preliminary evidence suggests Blindsight could provide substantial improvement over existing options for treating blindness, which is currently a condition with limited effective treatments.  The FDA might offer more flexibility in clinical trial design or data requirements, allowing for innovative approaches to demonstrate the device's effectiveness and safety.

It is not a final approval.  Neuralink still needs to show the long-term safety of brain implants, managing the body's response to foreign materials, and achieving the desired functionality in human subjects.

[Sigmetnow]

Neuralink is hiring technicians to ramp production of the implant.
 
—-
Karen Ma, Senior Technical Recruiter at Neuralink, has posted that Neuralink will host their first ever Hiring Event on-site in Fremont, California, to ramp production!
 
They specifically want Microfabrication Technicians. The position will build thin-film neural probes that are inserted into the brain to record and relay neural signals to the implant.
 
There will be on-site interviews. The event runs from the 4th to the 13th of November. No experience is needed. They will train you.
 
neuralink.com/careers/apply/
 
10/25/24, https://x.com/serobinsonjr/status/1850020420684063130

[Sigmetnow]

If you enjoy interviews of Noland, here’s another good one. Penny asks great questions, and he very neatly guides the conversation into new areas.

 
Penny2x
 
Noland Arbaugh (@ModdedQuad) was the first recipient of a brain control interface from @neuralink
 
In the past 9 months, he has regained some independence, felt it nearly stripped away from him, and continued to move forward with the selfless attitude that gave him the courage to be patient one.
 
He and his family were gracious enough to host me for an afternoon at their house. Noland and I discussed growing up, his injury, the ups and downs before and after his surgery, and the future of BCI and Neuralink.
 
10/8/24, ➡️  https://x.com/impenny2x/status/1843852079678316741
1h 7m

[Sigmetnow]

Noland Arbaugh
@ModdedQuad

Just had my nine month checkup! Everything looks good. I’m still incredibly healthy and the safety portion of the study is going phenomenally. We are all blown away at how perfectly everything is going.

It’s always great to see the @BarrowNeuro staff, they feel like family at this point. I also realized it is almost exactly one year since I had my full day of testing/screening to pass the final test to approve me as the first participant. Crazy how time flies.

Also, someday y’all will get to see this journey first hand through some really cool stuff that being done, so look forward to it!

Also also, there’s some pretty cool stuff in the pipeline I’m looking forward to sharing. But it’s a secret for now…

I can tell you that I got phone control the other day. Obviously one of the forest things I did was play @ClashofClans and clean up web pages that had been open on my phone for eight years and notifications from the Stone Age. Send me some ideas in the comments that I can play around with on my phone.

I’m a @Dbacks fan 100% but today I am cheering for the @Yankees to BTHO @Dodgers. GO YANKS!!!
 
10/25/24, 8:07 PM https://x.com/moddedquad/status/1849965938193596535

[Sigmetnow]

Elon Musk recently gave a 30 minute talk at the Congress of Neurological Surgeons annual meeting to discuss Neuralink.
 
"The vast majority of brain issues are fixable with a Neuralink device."

Two vid clips:
 
➡️ https://x.com/sawyermerritt/status/1851025090684579953
 2 min. If brain circuits should be there but aren’t, or are there and shouldn’t be, we can fix those. Read & write electric signals to the brain at with high precision.  Stimulate the visual cortex even if no eyes or optic nerve.  Anything with signals in or out.

Elon says a Neuralink brain implant should not be super expensive.
“In very high volume, it should start at approx the cost of an Apple Watch or a phone, so maybe $1,000-$2,000; We do have a gameplan for what I call the 600 second surgery. So 10 minutes, you sit in the chair and 10 minutes later you have an implant. We're not violating physics."
➡️ https://x.com/sawyermerritt/status/1851024913445908972
 1:20  Whole thing could be ~$5k.

 
CNS 2024 - Michael L.J, Apuzzo Lecture on Creativity & Innovation: Elon Musk & Dr. A. Khalessi
Oct 28, 2024.  35 min.
 

 
“In order to have better human-AI symbiosis, we have to solve the bandwidth problem.”
 
“Long term goal is: mitigating the civilization risk of divergence of biological and digital intelligence.”
 
< Reversible?
< Affordable?
 
< Age old question: Which is more difficult, Brain surgery or Rocket science?  (Laughter)
 
EM: They are both quite challenging.  It’s bizarre that I’m involved in both.
Both are hard, and there are reasons they are idiomatic expressions.
 
Give neurosurgeons a much more sophisticated, powerful tool, a Neuralink device, you can help a lot of people.

[Sigmetnow]

Elon Musk
I am increasingly convinced that Neuralink should prioritize making an implant that can eliminate back & neck pain.
Would greatly improve people’s happiness while awake, as well as enhance quality of sleep.
 
< Alzheimer’s?
EM: Early stage, yes, but only limited help is possible for late stage Alzheimer’s, as there there is too much neuronal loss
 
< Could BCI help with targeting amyloid plaques and tau tangles that disrupt neuronal function? Then perhaps with more research neurosurgical, the removal of the plaque may restore lost memories.
 
EM: Maybe, but it will definitely be extremely helpful in improving understanding of the brain

10/28/24, 7:39 PM ➡️ https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1851046159743402482
(2 min clip from the video of his talk posted above.)

[Sigmetnow]

Update on Noland’s recent accomplishments and future plans with Neuralink.

Noland Arbaugh
@ModdedQuad

Today is exactly 9 months since I got my surgery. Boy does it not feel like it. Let me update you on what’s been going on and what is to come.

In the last couple of months I traveled to Paris and used my Neuralink over an ocean and on another continent away from any physical support from a team.
…
I used the BCI for 24 hours straight and then 48 hours straight in back to back weekends. I placed a bet online, created a couple animations on Scratch, and operated a (unofficial) camera at @SpaceX 's Starbase the morning of Starship 5 launch. I learned about Nietzsche on @petersonacademy, used my French in France and my Japanese with a Japanese journalist, and I started the process of returning to school. I used my Neuralink on a phone, drew simple shapes, and signed my name on an official document. I played @OldSchoolRS, @StarCraft 2, @totalwar : Warhammer 3, @MaxInfernoGames ' A Little To The Left, @poncle_vampire 's Vampire Survivors, and about a dozen .io games. But more than anything, I worked with Neuralink to try and better clicks, handwriting, user interface, and overall user experience for all who come after me.
…
There is so much in the pipeline that I’m not even sure I can do it justice here. There are things we’re waiting on @US_FDA approval for, so I’ll put a pin in that for now.
…
I’ve also essentially been given the ability to never stop using the Neuralink as long as my body can handle not sleeping, which is why I was able to use it for 24/48hours straight. I think this weekend I might go for 72. …

10/29/24, 1:47 AM https://x.com/moddedquad/status/1851138874791104674

I might try 72 hours straight this weekend. Start Friday 10am and end Monday 10am. Maybe I'll stream some of It? Send me good vibes and coffee.
EDIT: For context, I mean I'm going to try and use my @neuralink for 72 hours straight. No sleep. Constant use. Partly to show its capabilities and partly because why not.
   —-
I'll be alright. If I don't manage to stay awake all 72 hours then that's fine. I'm not gonna hurt myself.
—-
I'm changing my 72 hour marathon to November 22nd-25th. I didn't realize how many people would be interested. So I'm going to put a little bit more effort into this and try to stream at least some of it. And I'll be doing some stuff. Fun stuff... Set the date. Tell your friends.

11/14/24, 6:50 PM https://x.com/moddedquad/status/1857209458830581851

[Sigmetnow]

BREAKING: Neuralink has received approval from Health Canada to begin recruitment for their first clinical trial in Canada!
 
This technology allows people who are paralyzed to control devices like computers with just their minds via Neuralink's N1 chip.
 
11/20/24, https://x.com/sawyermerritt/status/1859323125000806429
 
 “If you have limited or no ability to use both hands due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), you may qualify for the CAN-PRIME Study.”

Patient Registry | Neuralink
https://neuralink.com/patient-registry/ca/
(Has their 90 sec vid.)

[Neven]

It's a disgrace that disabled people are being used as cover for a transhumanist agenda.

[Sigmetnow]

It's a disgrace that disabled people are being used as cover for a transhumanist agenda.

So, quadriplegics are supposed to just lie in bed and vegetate for the rest of their lives?
People with heart disease should not get a pacemaker?
People with deafness should not be allowed to get cochlear implants?  Or those with hearing loss forbidden to get hearing aids?
Amputees should not get artificial limbs?
Everyone with knee pain or broken hips should just suffer rather than getting an artificial joint?

All of us here are already cyborgs:  we live every day closely attached to our cell phone or computer, to interact, to work and to play.  Those aids just happen to be external — for now.

[Neven]

It's a disgrace that disabled people are being used as cover for a transhumanist agenda.

So, quadriplegics are supposed to just lie in bed and vegetate for the rest of their lives?
People with heart disease should not get a pacemaker?
People with deafness should not be allowed to get cochlear implants?  Or those with hearing loss forbidden to get hearing aids?
Amputees should not get artificial limbs?
Everyone with knee pain or broken hips should just suffer rather than getting an artificial joint?

It's a disgrace that these people are being used by technocultists like you as a cover for a transhumanist agenda, which is pathologically insane, never mind what it does to the soul. Because we both know this isn't about healing people. You admit as much. The goal is to enhance the capabilities of perfectly healthy people.

Why do you think you are God?

[Sigmetnow]

It's a disgrace that disabled people are being used as cover for a transhumanist agenda.

So, quadriplegics are supposed to just lie in bed and vegetate for the rest of their lives?
People with heart disease should not get a pacemaker?
People with deafness should not be allowed to get cochlear implants?  Or those with hearing loss forbidden to get hearing aids?
Amputees should not get artificial limbs?
Everyone with knee pain or broken hips should just suffer rather than getting an artificial joint?

It's a disgrace that these people are being used by technocultists like you as a cover for a transhumanist agenda, which is pathologically insane, never mind what it does to the soul. Because we both know this isn't about healing people. You admit as much. The goal is to enhance the capabilities of perfectly healthy people.

Why do you think you are God?

You run a Forum that cannot be seen except by people with a super-human capability:  access to the internet.  Does that make you God?

People with disabilities are volunteering to be part of a study which could help them regain the abilities perfectly healthy people take for granted.  That’s their right, just as it is the choice of “perfectly healthy people” to enrich their lives with the internet.  Which is no more “trans-human” than using a cell phone or a computer.

[Neven]

You run a Forum that cannot be seen except by people with a super-human capability:  access to the internet.  Does that make you God?

You mean they have eyes? I'm not enhancing their eyes to see the Internet. That's where your analogy goes wrong. There's a difference between enhancing capabilities via means outside of the human body and enhancing capabilities within the body itself. But that's beside the point.

The point is that it's a disgrace to act all magnanimous about helping disabled people, when actually the goal is to enhance perfectly healthy people. Very rich people. Who became rich by being a psychopath.

People with disabilities are volunteering to be part of a study which could help them regain the abilities perfectly healthy people take for granted.  That’s their right, just as it is the choice of “perfectly healthy people” to enrich their lives with the internet.  Which is no more “trans-human” than using a cell phone or a computer.

What is 'trans-human' is to enhance perfectly healthy capabilities like eye vision. And it's a disgrace that you hide behind people with disabilities because you want to be enhanced or made immortal.

Your way of thinking is a disgrace. Or would it be enough for you to only use this technology to help disabled people? No, you always want more because you're afraid of death. And so you try to become God, better than God even. It's a perennial story and it always ends the same.

The problem is that it affects others and the livability of this planet. That's what angers me so much about technophilia. It creates more and bigger problems than it solves.

At what point is enough enough?

[Sigmetnow]

You mean they have eyes? I'm not enhancing their eyes to see the Internet. That's where your analogy goes wrong. There's a difference between enhancing capabilities via means outside of the human body and enhancing capabilities within the body itself.

What difference?  Without having physical access to the technology that connects to the internet, their eyes can see none of it.  Whether that technology is something sitting on a desk, held in a hand, or implanted — it all does exactly the same thing. 

What is 'trans-human' is to enhance perfectly healthy capabilities like eye vision.

 
So, you would forbid Lasik surgery because it might make vision better than 20/20? 

If everyone felt they could not be any better than they are right now, we’d have no chance to develop and emerge from the current climate crisis, because woe is me, this is just the way we are.  We would never dare to advance, to improve ourselves in ways so everyone could live better.
 
We can do more today than in centuries (or decades!) past because God gave us intelligence to improve ourselves.  Otherwise, early humans would have never discovered the benefits of even rudimentary tools and incorporated them into their lives — or even come down from the trees in the first place.  We have been built to change ourselves, and do more.

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” 
Unless and until you take the time to learn how BCI works — and there are plenty of references right here in this thread to serve that purpose — it will seem to be a God-like, super-human miracle.  But it’s not.

[Sigmetnow]

Rob Maurer
Neuralink announces trial to evaluate control of a robotic arm with the Neuralink device! 🦾 Extremely exciting!
11/25/24, https://x.com/teslapodcast/status/1861108076129980780

Neuralink
 
We’re excited to announce the approval and launch of a new feasibility trial to extend BCI control using the N1 Implant to an investigational assistive robotic arm.
 
This is an important first step towards restoring not only digital freedom, but also physical freedom. …

11/25/24, https://x.com/neuralink/status/1861107594645119006

[Sigmetnow]

Elon Musk
 
Well-articulated analysis of @neuralink.
 
Important edit: bit rate and patient number will increase hyperexponentially over the next 5+ years.
 
My guess is combined I/O Bit rate > 1Mbs and augmented humans >1M by 2030.

12/14/24, https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1867978513149530439

Apoorv Agrawal

Why Neuralink is the most important company this decade!

@neuralink is delivering life-changing value to humanity and is at an inflection point as goes from being a technology in the lab to people’s homes this year.

As an investor, we look for transformative innovations — where technology redefines our understanding of what’s possible. Neuralink is not just that life-changing innovation but will deliver uncapped upside potential from here.

Here’s Why 👇

#1 Where Are We Today?
Over the past century, the Brain Machine Interface (BMI) space has evolved from early breakthroughs such as the introduction of electroencephalography (EEG) in 1924 to groundbreaking animal trials like monkeys playing Pong in 2021. This year Neuralink’s N1 implant was successfully implanted in multiple humans residing in their homes.

This is a breakthrough for people with quadriplegia, restoring autonomy by converting neural signals from the motor cortex into digital commands. This allows users to engage with the digital world (move cursors and type through thought alone), communicate via text, email, speech and engage with creative outlets like art and music - ultimately delivering life changing human value.

Noland Arbaugh, the first participant in Neuralink’s clinical trial, now plays video games, live streams, and navigates his laptop—all through the power of his mind. Similarly, Alex, another participant, is designing complex 3D objects using CAD software, unlocking creative potential once thought inaccessible. These stories are not isolated; they are the first chapters in a revolution to restore independence to millions globally.

Reviews from Noland Arbaugh @ModdedQuad,  Neuralink’s first participant:
- “(Neuralink) has helped me reconnect with the world, my friends, and my family. It's given me the ability to do things on my own again without needing my family at all hours of the day and night.”
- “The biggest thing with comfort is that I can lie in my bed and use (Neuralink). Any other assistive technology had to have someone else help or have me sit up. Sitting causes stress mentally and on my body which would give me pressure sores or spasms. It lets me live on my own time, not needing to have someone adjust me, etc. throughout the day.”
- “I think it should give a lot of people a lot of hope for what this thing can do for them”

#2 How does it work?

The N1 is the size of a coin, containing a microprocessor, Bluetooth transmitter, rechargeable battery, and ultra-thin wires with 1,024 electrodes distributed across 64 threads. These highly-flexible, ultra-thin threads are key to minimize damage during implantation. The threads of our implant are so fine that they can't be inserted by the human hand. A surgical robot has been designed to reliably and efficiently insert these threads exactly where they need to be.

Once inserted, the electrodes detect neural signals and translate them into digital commands, transmitted via Bluetooth to external devices. Thinking about moving a cursor triggers corresponding neurons in the motor cortex, enabling precise cursor movement on a screen.

#3 Why Now?

This year Neuralink’s patients achieved bandwidth that’s ~50% of a normal human via the N1 implant. It’s poised to meet human level bandwidth next year and the team aims to exceed it by the end of the decade. A quick breakdown on why bandwidth matters. Today’s intelligence operates on three levels:

1⃣ Limbic Intelligence (“thinking fast” – primal needs like safety and survival)
2⃣ Higher-Order Reasoning (“thinking slow” – complex thought and planning)
3⃣ Digital Intelligence (enabled by phones, internet, software)

Our reliance on digital intelligence is undeniable. Forgetting your phone feels like losing a limb. Yet, the bottleneck lies in the bandwidth—the rate at which information flows between biology and technology. Bandwidth is quantified in Bits Per Second (BPS), as popularized by the late Professor Krishna Shenoy:

1⃣ Average human output (no devices): 1 BPS
2⃣ Typing/speaking: ~20 BPS
3⃣ Peak human performance: ~40 BPS

With BMIs (Brain-Machine Interfaces):
- 2017: Achieved ~2-4 BPS
- 2021: Reached 6.56 BPS
- 2024: Neuralink’s N1 reached 9.5 BPS
- 2025: Neuralink targets 40 BPS
- By 2030: Neuralink targets 100 BPS

The advances next year will likely come from two main levers: 1) More electrodes (going from 1024 to 3000) and increased utilization of electrodes (currently N1 utilizes ~10% of the 1024 electrodes and is expected to go as high as 40% next year).

Achieving near-human bandwidth will help dramatically improve the quality of life for people with special abilities.

#4 What's Next?

1⃣ Scaling N1: Neuralink aims for 27 procedures in 2025 and 79 in 2026, expanding the number of users.
2⃣ Vision Restoration: FDA-approved BMI for vision restoration (“Blindsight”) interacts with the visual cortex to restore basic light and shape perception.
3⃣ Speech Restoration: Expanding to auditory cortex applications to restore speech capabilities.
Beyond Restoration:
Replace smartphones: BMIs could surpass traditional devices, becoming high-bandwidth interfaces for AI-human interaction.
Augmentation: Enhancing human cognition, memory, and productivity for 100M+ users.

From restoring autonomy for quadriplegics to enhancing human potential, Neuralink will revolutionize how we interact with machines, each other, and the world. It’s not just catching up to technology by defining the next frontier for humanity.

12/12/24, https://x.com/apoorv03/status/1867317186567844309