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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Science
Tory Shepherd

Brain chips: the Sydney researchers ‘miles ahead’ of Elon Musk’s Neuralink

An illustration showing a shadow with a a large computer chips wired to its hands.
Australian neuroscience advances are hugely promising for people who otherwise cannot communicate or interact with the world, but there are concerns over regulation and access. Illustration: Victoria Hart/Guardian Design

Brain-computer interface technology is at the core of movies such as Ready Player One, The Matrix and Avatar. But outside the realm of science fiction, BCI is being used on Earth to help paralysed people communicate, to study dreams and to control robots.

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk announced in January – to much fanfare – that his neurotechnology company Neuralink had implanted a computer chip into a human for the first time. In February, he announced that the patient was able to control a computer mouse with their thoughts.

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