Billionaire Elon Musk said on Friday that his startup Neuralink, which specializes in making electronic chips that can be implanted in the brain, will begin its first human trials this year.
Speaking in a webcast seen by Reuters at the Vivatech technology conference in Paris, Musk said the company he co-founded, Neuralink, plans to implant a chip into the brain of a person with paralysis or stroke.
Musk did not specify how many patients his company would implant the chips in or for how long. But Musk, CEO of electric car company Tesla, social media site Twitter and space rocket company SpaceX, said “it looks like the first case will be later this year.”
Last month, Neuralink said it had received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to conduct its first human clinical trial, a milestone for the startup at a time when it faces investigations into its animal testing practices in the United States.
In an earlier statement to Reuters, management acknowledged that it had authorized Neuraling to implant brain chips and use a surgical robot, but declined to elaborate.
Experts previously told Reuters that if Neuralink can prove its devices are safe for humans, it could take years or more than a decade to get a license for commercial use.
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