Musk: 'First Neuralink implanted in the brain of a human being'

In May, Musk's company announced that it had received the green light from the Food and Drug Administration to conduct the first tests on humans. At the end of last year, the recruitment of volunteers began. Neuralink has already conducted extensive implant studies in animals, drawing criticism from many activists, according to whom the company has abused animal rights by violating the Animal Welfare Act, the law that regulates how researchers may treat and experiment on certain animals.

Neuralink's goal with this first intervention is to demonstrate that the device can safely collect useful data from the part of the brain - the premotor cortex - that manages a patient's arms and hands. And then convert a person's thoughts into a series of commands that a computer can understand.

It must be said that several companies and research groups have already created implants that can help patients perform basic tasks with thought, such as clicking on objects on a screen with a cursor. Neuralink, however, has set itself much more ambitious goals, in the style of Elon Musk.