Elon Musk's Company Has Ambitious Plans To Connect Human Brains To Computer Interface

Human trials are set to begin on Elon Musk’s latest endeavor: brain implants.

The news came as part of a presentation the Tesla CEO gave Tuesday for his company, Neuralink. The goal of the company is to create brain implants that can treat devastating injuries and illnesses, like spinal injuries and Alzheimer’s.

Neuralink’s executives revealed that the potential starting window for human trials could be in early 2020.

“I think it's important for us to address brain-related diseases,” Musk said. “Whether it's an accident or congenital or any kind of brain-related disorder or a spinal disorder – if you know somebody who's broken their neck or broken their spine, we can solve that with a chip, and this is something that I think most people don't quite understand yet.”

Musk took it a step further, suggesting telepathic communication could even be possible with these implants.

“At a kind of advanced long-term level ... if two people had a neural link, you'd be able to effectively have a sort of really high bandwidth telepathy,” Musk said.

However, he has also emphasized that progress is going to be slow when it comes to these new implants. He revealed that the Food and Drug Administration has made it "quite difficult” to get approval for these new devices. But he has also reaffirmed the successes they’ve already had in animal trials with monkeys while maintaining the sensitivity needed in running such trials.

“A monkey has been able to control the computer with its brain,” Musk said.

Answering any questions about the progress made, Neuralink also released files online that outlined the progress the company already made in the space.

Neuralink was founded in July 2016. It is headquartered in San Francisco.