During the presentation, Musk said the company has submitted most of the documents required to conduct clinical trials on humans to the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates medical devices in the United States. Musk has previously said he hopes to begin human trials in 2020 and then in 2022. Now that term has shifted to at least 2023.

Neuralink’s goal is to create a device that can be implanted in the brain and used to control a computer using brain activity. In 2019, Musk revealed that the company was testing its device on monkeys, and in 2020 it was tested on pigs. Last year, Neuralink released a video of a monkey playing pong with the power of thought.

What was shown in the presentation?

This year the monkeys are back. In a video demonstration, one of them focused on the highlighted words and letters using her implant to help “print” the phrase “Welcome to Show and Tell”. Another video showed how monkeys learned to charge chips while sitting under a wireless charger.

A monkey charges an implant with wireless charging / Screenshot

Later in the presentation, Neuralink researchers also showed a pig on a treadmill, which they say helps them study how to solve mobility problems in humans in the future.

How will the chips be placed in the brain?

Neuralink devices are small with a few flexible “threads” that can be inserted into the brain.

It’s like replacing a skull piece with a smartwatch for lack of a better analogy,
said Musk.

In about 15 minutes, 64 of these “threads” can be inserted into the brain using a robotic system. The mannequin and the implantation process were also shown in the presentation.

Neuralink contacts placed in the brain / Screenshot

The reason robotic surgeons were created is because of how small these threads are.

Imagine taking a hair from your head and sticking it in a wrap-around jelly, doing it with full depth and precision, and doing this 64 times in a reasonable amount of time,
– said Christine Odabashyan, head of the hardware placement group at Neuralink.

The company’s 2019 and 2020 showcases are designed as recruiting events, and this one is no exception; The company acknowledged that the main focus of the evening was recruitment. Musk stressed that Neuralink is now trying to fill many different types of work as it moves from “prototype to product.”

The event was basically a technical presentation of the device, showing how the system was set up, the challenges faced by the team, how the technology has evolved so far, and what’s next. The company’s researchers said they have developed treatments that can help improve or restore vision or movement in people with paralysis. Technically speaking, the company has a passion for making the device easily upgradeable.