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- Elon Musk's firm Neuralink said it's successfully implanted a brain chip in its first human patient.
- The company has faced years of regulatory hurdles and controversy over animal testing.
- Here's a look back at the company's biggest milestones and challenges.
Elon Musk's futuristic company Neuralink has implanted a brain chip into its first human patient.
Musk said the unidentified patient has fully recovered and can control a computer mouse with their mind.
While the tech may feel like something straight out of "Black Mirror," the chips have been in the works for years.
Here are some of the key challenges and milestones.
Regulatory roadblocks
Neuralink has missed several of Musk's deadlines to win regulatory approval to start human clinical trials.
In 2019, Musk said Neuralink was aiming for approval for human trials by the end of 2020. By 2021, he was tweeting that the company was working "super hard" to ensure implant safety and was in "close communication with the FDA."
At the time, several employees and former employees told Reuters the company didn't even seek permission from the Food and Drug Administration until early 2022, and the agency rejected the application.
The company eventually received the approval for its first in-human clinical study in May 2023.
"This is the result of incredible work by the Neuralink team in close collaboration with the FDA and represents an important first step that will one day allow our technology to help many people," the company said in a post on X.
The news resulted in thousands of prospective patients volunteering to have a portion of their skull removed and the chip inserted.
Monkey business
Neuralink has faced intense scrutiny over its treatment of animal test subjects.
Several reports indicated that monkeys who had the implant installed experienced a range of health issues before they were eventually euthanized.
Musk has denied that monkeys died as a result of Neuralink's chips. In a post on X, the billionaire said the company had chosen terminal monkeys who were "close to death already" for the first early implants.
In November last year, the company faced renewed scrutiny over the deaths of Neuralink's test monkeys.
Wired reported that four members of the House of Representatives wrote to SEC chair Gary Gensler asking the regulator to investigate Musk over statements he made about Neuralink's brain chip.
Potential rewards
Musk has long proclaimed the chips' potential to have revolutionary health benefits, saying they could eventually "solve" a range of conditions or disorders. This has been met with skepticism from some experts.
After the first product, Telepathy, was inserted into a human patient, Musk posted on X: "Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer. That is the goal."
Musk said the chip acts as a "fitbit in your skull."
In a September blog post, the company said patients with "quadriplegia due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)" might qualify for the trials. Applications for the trial opened the same month.