Neuralink Corp., the brain implant startup led by billionaire Elon Musk, is recruiting patients for a clinical trial, a long-awaited step that brings the science fiction-esque technology closer to human reality., the company said it was recruiting patients with quadriplegia due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis for the trial.
The initial goal “is to grant people the ability to control a computer cursor or keyboard using their thoughts alone,” the company said in the post. While Musk has discussed far-out targets for Neuralink — such as helping people learn languages or communicating thoughts mentally — he has also consistently said that its first project would be to help ameliorate brain injuries.