Neuralink Corp., Elon Musk’s brain implant company, plans to launch a clinical trial in the US in October aiming to use its device to translate thoughts into text, potentially opening up new possibilities for speech-impaired people to communicate.
The company also hopes to put its device in a healthy person by 2030, as Neuralink moves toward an eventual goal of creating consumer technology. It would be a massive expansion from the current activities of brain implant companies, which are testing devices only in people with severe medical conditions that make a risky brain surgery worthwhile.
“We’re currently envisioning a world where in about 3 to 4 years, there will be someone who’s otherwise healthy who’s going to get a Neuralink,” the company’s president, DJ Seo, said at the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies in Seoul earlier this week.
Neuralink aims to start a new clinical trial to read speech directly from the brain, Seo said in his presentation.
