Why Elon Musk will have to wait a little longer to start putting chips in human brains

This monkey is playing a video game while scientists record and analyze its movements through two implants in its brain. — Photography Neuralink/YouTube.com/AFP Relaxnews

Back in November, the American company Neuralink announced that it would be looking to implant its first chips in human brains in the spring of 2023. But Elon Musk's agenda appears to have been thwarted by the US authorities, which have not authorized these first human trials. This represents a further obstacle for this brain implant project, which is already subject to two investigations by the American authorities.

Neuralink, which specializes in intelligent brain implants, is one of the many startups created by Elon Musk and certainly not the least ambitious. Its ultimate goal is to achieve a kind of man-machine interface by implanting chips and electrodes into the brain. The idea is to be able to control an electronic terminal, like a smartphone for example, without having to touch it, simply by thinking. In the longer term, these electrodes could have other uses, notably in the treatment of neurological diseases, thus one day potentially helping patients to overcome Parkinson's disease or epilepsy, or even to allow paralyzed people to regain their mobility.