Quick overview

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Neuralink, a brain technology startup founded by Elon Musk, announced on Monday that it has closed a $650 million funding round. ARK Invest, Founders Fund, Sequoia Capital, Thrive Capital, and Lightspeed Venture Partners featured in the raise.

 

Neuralink states that the additional funding will enable the business to expand its patient base and create new tools that “deepen the connection between biological and artificial intelligence.” Neuralink is developing a brain-computer interface, or BCI, that converts brain signals into commands for external technologies.

Telepathy, the company’s initial system, consists of 64 “threads”  implanted directly into the brain. Neuralink’s website notes that the threads, which are thinner than a human hair, use 1,024 electrodes to record neural signals. The primary goal of this technology is to assist individuals suffering from severe paralysis in regaining some degree of independence.   

“Five patients have received Neuralink’s technology as of Monday and can control digital and physical devices with their thoughts.”

BCIs have been researched in academic institutions for many years, and several other companies develop systems, such as Synchron, Paradromics, and Precision Neuroscience.

Paradromics announced that it has successfully implanted its brain-computer interface (BCI) in a human for the first time.

Musk has frequently emphasized the potential to help blind patients regain their vision. The US Food and Drug Administration designated Neuralink’s Blindsight device as a “Breakthrough Device.”

This designation is given to medical devices that improve treatment for life-threatening or incapacitating conditions.