The man who received the first Neuralink brain chip has posted to X for the first time using only his mind – and Elon Musk is celebrating.
Noland Arbaugh was paralyzed in a diving accident which limited his physical control.
However, the device’s groundbreaking capabilities are opening new doors for him, allowing him to communicate and interact online solely through his thoughts.
After the Neuralink telepathy brain chip was implanted in January, he was able to post ‘just by thinking’.
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It was previously revealed that he could move a cursor by thinking – meeting expectations for the unprecedented tech.
A nine-minute video of the 29-year-old man showed him playing a game of chess and turning off the laptop’s music.
He posted on Friday, 22 March to his @ModdedQuad account on X.
”Twitter banned me because they thought I was a bot, and @X and @elonmusk reinstated me because I am,” he said.
A back-and-forth ensued between Arbaugh and the tech mogul who owns both the platform he posted to and the one who carried out the procedure.
“First ever post made just by thinking, using the [Neuralink] Telepathy device!” Musk said.
Musk also responded to the video.
“Long-term, it is possible to shunt the signals from the brain motor cortex past the damaged part of the spine to enable people to walk again and use their arms normally,” he said.
This milestone represents Neuralink’s progress toward aiding people with disabilities and paralysis.
Plans for further chip implants and advancements in the technology’s accessibility include Neuralink’s next product to help restore vision, Blindsight.
Both posts were inundated with positivity.
“This is the next big step towards a future in which blindness and paralysis will effectively be cured,” said one X user.
“This is very good news. Many lives will be changed for good,” a second said.
As always, there were skeptics, however.
“I’ve seen enough dystopian sci-fi films to know that there’s a 100 percent chance this ends horribly for humankind,” said one.
Neuralink is currently working on its first round of clinical trials for its ‘Prime Study’, which stands for ‘Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface’.
Budding participants can now register interest in the six-year project.
And hands-free technology has taken a leap elsewhere with this POV video showing how Apple Vision Pro glasses work in public.
