Neuralink, a company led by Elon Musk, has successfully implanted a brain chip into a second trial patient. This groundbreaking device is designed to provide individuals with paralysis the ability to control devices using their thoughts alone.

The chip operates by recording brain activity through an array of 1,024 electrodes distributed across 64 flexible leads, each of which is thinner than a human hair. The recent implant procedure, performed on a patient who sustained paralysis due to a diving accident, appears to have been a success.

“I don’t want to jinx it but it seems to have gone extremely well with the second implant,” the SpaceX chief claimed on Lex Fridman’s podcast. “There’s a lot of signal, a lot of electrodes. It’s working very well,” Musk said.

Musk further shared that the first patient to receive the Neuralink chip implant, Noland Arbaugh, a 29-year-old individual who sustained quadriplegia due to a diving accident, has demonstrated the ability to engage in online video games such as Mario Kart and Civilization VI.

“Progress is good and the patient seems to have made a full recovery, with no ill effects that we are aware of. Patient is able to move a mouse around the screen by just thinking,” he said.

Arbaugh said after receiving the implant that it has helped him “reconnect with the world, my friends, and my family”.

“It has given me the ability to do things on my own again without needing my family at all hours of the day and night.”

A few days later, however, some of the 64 electrodes implanted into Arbaugh’s brain became disconnected, prompting the company to contemplate removing the device.

Neuralink reports that only approximately 15 percent of the device’s channels are currently operational, although the patient is still able to utilize it for tasks such as watching videos and reading.

Musk expressed his vision of mitigating the potential risks associated with artificial intelligence through the utilization of Neuralink’s implants. He emphasized the importance of establishing a closer synergy between human intelligence and digital intelligence, suggesting that this approach could potentially empower individuals with enhanced capabilities.

Neuralink intends to implement modifications to the chip’s design to alleviate previously encountered issues, as stated by Musk. These modifications aim to address concerns such as preventing the device’s electrodes from retracting from brain tissue and ensuring more precise insertion of the threads into the brain’s convolutions.

In the past, the company has faced criticism regarding its treatment of animals involved in research studies.

Animal rights organizations, including the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, raised concerns last year, alleging that Neuralink exhibited “insufficient care” towards its research monkeys. The organization reported that these animals were euthanized due to complications such as “bloody diarrhea, partial paralysis, and cerebral edema.”

During a recent statement, Musk emphasized the company’s commitment to providing proper care for the animals utilized in research activities.

“We really do everything we can to maximise the welfare of the animals,”  Musk said.