Being able to rewatch our memories and re-teach our brains to carry out day-to-day tasks may sound like something in the far future or something from an episode of Black Mirror. However, this futuristic idea of ‘Brain Chip Implant’ (BCI) technology is already becoming a reality.
On the 29th of January 2024, billionaire and Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, posted on his social media platform X, that his tech and science company, ‘Neuralink’, had successfully carried out its first human surgery with “promising” brain activity, adding that the patient was “recovering well.” This announcement joined a team of Swiss researchers and a series of pre-existing firms such as Blackrock Neurotech and Inbrain Neuroelectronic, who have already carried out this procedure in the hopes of treating a variety of conditions.
Since the announcement and the initial stages of the programme, it appears the media craze has died down outside the science world. However, Neuralink has continued to work away quietly in the background of Musk’s White House stunt and SpaceX projects.
Neuralink was founded in June 2016 by Musk and a team made up of seven scientists and engineers. Since the company went public in early 2017, it has assembled a team of ‘high-profile’ neuroscientists and has received over $158 million in funding by 2019.
Trials for this programme are open to qualified individuals over the age of 18 with one of the following conditions: quadriplegia, paraplegia, vision loss, hearing loss and/or major limb amputation (above or below elbow/above or below knee). Each implant surgery will cost around $10,500 and around $40,000 for insurance companies.
The company has a vision that its technology will be used to treat patients suffering from major limb amputations, hearing and/or vision loss, autism, depression, schizophrenia, and a variety of other conditions. They believe that ‘brain computer interfaces’ have the ability to change lives by bringing the technology into homes. Neuralink has said they’re currently focused on giving those with quadriplegia (a symptom of paralysis that affects all a person’s limbs and body from the neck down) the ability to control computers and phones via their own thoughts.
In May 2023, Neuralink received FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approval to begin human trials of the brain implant technology, previously carried out on animals. The company is currently running “Neuralink’s PRIME study“, in which patients with conditions such as limited or no ability to use both hands due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, a fatal form of motor neuron disease) may qualify to participate.
Bloomberg previously reported that Neuralink planned to perform 11 of these surgeries in 2024, followed by a further 27 in 2025 and a rise to 79 by 2026. Although Neuralink had only recently announced that their first human surgery had taken place at the time, the company had already reportedly carried out over 150 surgeries using this technology via animal test subjects such as monkeys, sheep and pigs.
Where does Neuralink stand in 2026 and have they achieved these aims?
Neuralink’s first product, Telepathy, designed to ‘enable people with paralysis to directly control computers, phones, and robotic limbs using their thoughts alone’, currently has 21 “Neuralnauts“. “The early participants of clinical trials who step forward to pioneer BCI progress,” across the globe, as of January 2026.
Telepathy works by using recorded neural activity from the regions of the human brain that are responsible for controlling our hand and arm muscles. These are then translated into digital commands that allow them to work around the ‘damaged neural pathways’.
The Neuralink chip is small to allow for minimal damage to the cortex when inserted, and in diameter is slightly larger than a red blood cell, 10-12 microns in width. Since the threads of the implant are so delicate, it means that it cannot be handled by human hands and is instead inserted using a surgical robot designed to carry out the process efficiently and reliably, placing the threads where needed.
In Switzerland, a team of researchers carried out the process in July 2021 by inserting an electronic brain implant into Gert-Jan Oskam after he was paralysed in a cycling accident 13 years ago. The technology wirelessly transmits his thoughts to his legs and feet via a second implant in his spine. Prof. Bloch cut two 5cm (in diameter) circular holes in each side of the skull above the parts of the brain involved in controlling movement, before inserting two disc-shaped implants which allowed wireless transmissions to send his brain signals to two sensors attached to a helmet on Gert-Jan’s head.
Following this process, the team was able to develop an algorithm which gave them the ability to translate these signals into instructions to regain movement in his legs and foot muscles via a second implant around his spinal cord attached to the nerve endings regarding walking.A leading UK spinal charity described this as “very encouraging.”
In early April 2026, Elon Musk took to social media to announce further hopes for the Neuralink technology, aiming to restore hearing for deaf individuals by directly stimulating the auditory cortex. He took to X saying, ” I am confident that Neuralink will restore hearing one day, just as we will restore vision with our Blindsight implant.” Blindsight is set to begin human trials this year, pending regulatory approval.
Controversy surrounding Neuralink and BCI Technology
However, like any scientific advancement, Neuralink doesn’t come without its moral controversy. Neuralink has come under fire in recent years due to reports of violating animal welfare regulations and has been the centre of various federal inquiries. Neuralink has faced investigations after allegations emerged that the company was illegally transporting dangerous pathogens on chips taken from monkeys’ brains without following proper containment measures.
Findings on the 5th of December 2022 found that Neuralink experiments in recent years involved 86 pigs and monkeys killed by human error, followed by revelations that said mistakes were then repeated, leading to more unnecessary deaths. Neuralink staff have voiced concerns, stating that they felt the animal testing process was rushed and led to needless suffering due to Musk accelerating the company’s research.
When it comes to the wider controversy surrounding the use of BCI technology, it comes down to the ethics of this process. Elon Musk has hinted at the technology having the ability to give people the chance to store and download memories into a new body or perhaps a robot one, so what does this mean in terms of potential for immortality? In such a future, how much humanitarian value and conscience will remain and how much will be a computerised simulation? This may offer new eye-opening opportunities to the medical world, but what will be the cost we pay?
