Elon Musk's brain-computer interface company, Neuralink, is set to implant its device into a second human patient next week, as confirmed by top executives during a recent briefing on X. Currently, Noland Arbaugh from Arizona is the only person to have received the brain chip implant. Musk expressed hopes that the number of recipients would increase to the high single digits by the end of this year.
Arbaugh received the implant following an accident in 2016 that left him paralyzed from the shoulders down. Although the company reported in May that some of the tiny wires in Arbaugh's implant had shifted, Musk recently stated that the implant has become "more or less very stable."
"We're just now moving to our second Neuralink patient. If all goes well, we aim to reach high single digits this year," Musk announced on Wednesday.
Neuralink executive Dongjin "D.J." Seo explained that post-surgery, it takes some time for the brain tissue to anchor the threads in place, after which the system has shown stability.
To mitigate risks, the company is employing measures such as skull sculpting and maintaining normal levels of carbon dioxide in the blood.
During Wednesday's briefing, Musk outlined Neuralink's long-term goal: to reduce the civilizational risks posed by artificial intelligence. He believes that Neuralink can help achieve a closer symbiosis between human intelligence and digital intelligence.
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