Have you ever seen that video of a monkey playing Pong with its mind? That monkey is Elon Musk’s monkey, and it’s using something called a brain-computer interface (BCI) that translates thoughts into actions on the computer via tiny wires implanted into the skull. Musk is hoping to implant something similar in your head.
In 2017, the billionaire Tesla CEO claimed in an article on Tim Urban’s blog Wait But Why that within four years, his new, under-the-radar startup called Neuralink would have a device on the market that would not only translate thoughts into actions on computers, but also help cure “certain severe brain injuries.” Then, on July 16, 2019, Musk proudly revealed Neuralink’s tech to the public in a San Francisco launch event, promising that human trials would begin in 2020.
