Elon Musk has insisted his scientists will be able to implant brain chips in humans in the next six months.
This comes despite reports the majority of monkeys implanted with the brain-computer interface (BCI) suffered "debilitating health effects".
The world's richest man tweeted on Thursday he is confident the device made by his Neuralink company is “ready for humans" and they'll be able to start testing.
Musk has high hopes for the device claiming it will help treat people with brain disorders and even help disabled people move and communicate.
In a show and tell event on Wednesday, organised to publicise the device, Musk said: “We want to be extremely careful and certain that it will work well before putting a device into a human but we’ve submitted I think most of our paperwork to the FDA and probably in about six months we should be able to upload Neuralink in a human."
But the project has been mired in controversy regarding the use of research monkeys.
Campaign group Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) claimed Neuralink had violated the Animal Welfare Act during testing at University of California, Davis from 2017 to 2020.
“Pretty much every single monkey that had had implants put in their head suffered from pretty debilitating health effects,” Jeremy Beckham, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine’s research advocacy director, told The Post.
Neuralink defended its use of monkeys claiming it was “absolutely committed to working with animals in the most humane and ethical way possible”.
During the demo on November 30, a video was played appearing to show a monkey typing on a keyboard using just its brain.
The monkey spelled out a request for snacks.
During the demonstration, Musk emphasised the monkey used in the test was "pretty happy" and wasn't strapped to the chair.
He said: "We care a great deal a lot about animal welfare. Our monkeys are pretty happy. "
Announcing that "most" of the paperwork to start testing has been submitted to the FDA, Musk said: "We've been working hard to be ready for our first human and obviously we want to be extremely careful and certain that it will work well before putting a device into a human."
Musk has never been far from the headlines since he bought out social media app Twitter earlier this year.
He has recently picked a public spat with tech giant Apple over claims the iPhone maker threatened to remove Twitter from the App Store.
Musk also has reinstated a number of high profile accounts previously removed from the app.
US President Donald Trump has been allowed to return to the platform after being banned for allegedly helping incite the Capitol Hill riot that left five dead
Rapper Kanye West has also returned to the app after being removed for anti-semitic content.
