Although Elon Musk is widely recognized for Tesla and SpaceX, he still has other strange ventures. Musk, whose net worth is around 225.1 billion USD, is now developing a brain microchip through his company Neuralink. 

Neuralink is Musk’s neural interface technology company. He is aiming to develop a chip that is embedded into people’s skulls to regulate brain activity and possibly stimulate it. He describes it as a “FitBit in your skull.”

So what is Neuralink?

It’s net worth is an estimated 500 million USD or over. Musk bought this company from an Ohio electrical engineer called Pedram Mohseni. He, a professor at Case Western Reserve University, along with his partner, Randolph Nudo of Kansas University Medical Center, trademarked the business in 2015 with the hopes of helping people with brain injuries. 

The pair claims that a stranger contacted them, offering tens of thousands of dollars for the company. They accepted, without the knowledge that billionaire Elon Musk was behind the transaction. 

On the surface it seems as though they would be upset that they could have gotten more money for this deal. However, Mohseni says he is excited. 

So how would it work?

Musk believes that a fusion between human and artificial intelligence will eliminate concerns over runaway AI. The way that the technology works is it would be first installed into the skull, and the chip (which is a bunch of tiny wires 20 times as thin as human hair), would spread into the brain.

 It has just over 1,000 electrodes which monitors brain activity and electrically stimulate the brain. From there, the data is transmitted to compites where researches can analyze it. 

The way that it is implanted, though, seems to be one of the most controversial parts about this experiment.

Neuralink, along with Woke Studios, has developed a machine to embed the coin-sized chip surgically. The robot would use a needle to punch the wires of the chip into a brain, moving in a similar fashion to a sewing machine. Musk says he can make the surgery as simple as LASIK eye surgery. The AI machine stands at an intimidating 8 feet tall.

Previous Test

In 2020, Neuralink showed off a pig who seemed to be acting normally, just attached to wires and beeping monitors flashing red and blue. But Gertrude wasn’t a normal pig. Two months before she had been implanted within the Neuralink chip. 

Researchers at the scene were monitoring her brain activity, and it apparently seemed as though nothing had changed within the pig’s brain besides access to its data. 

Although Musk has made some bold claims and seemingly impossible promises relating to the project, some neuroscientists and professors have said that some features could be promising. 

So, would you let Elon Musk install a brain chip in your skull?