Musk’s Neuralink brain chip approved for trials on humans

Charlotte Zeyssolff, Comment Editor, explains how Elon Musk’s brain implant firm has received regulatory clearance to conduct its first human trials in the US

HUMANS’ ability to control their own biological characteristics has never been more salient. With the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) having granted approval for Elon Musk’s brain implant company, Neuralink, to commence testing on humans, previously unimaginable limits of human biological engineering now appear transgressible in the not-so-distant future. These implants, made up of electrodeladen computer chips, are imbedded into the brain by a surgical robot and transmit electronic signals from neurones to an external computer.

FDA approval marks an important step in the recognition of the company’s credibility among the scientific community, which was previously damaged in early 2022 when its application was rejected based on concerns of possible displacement of the implant’s wires within the brain, and its ability to leave the brain tissue intact. Allegations of unethical animal testing were raised by Reuters who reported that over 1,500 animals had been used for experimentation since 2018. Further defiling Neuralink’s integrity, six of its eight founding members have left the company, many over doubts about the reliability of its data collection.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk has great plans for his brainchild, predicting that Neuralink will cure the severest of conditions such as paralysis, Alz- heimers and depression. Eventually he sees the device becoming a consumer product available to the general public, allowing them to transcend the limits of human strength and intellect. Describing the chip as “a backup drive for your non-physical being” he suggests that it could prevent our thoughts from sinking into the abyss of human amnesia. However, his intentions have raised ethical concerns, not to mention threats to privacy rights, which Neuralink would infringe upon if it had access to users’ brain data. Although Musk argues that these implants could liberate human intellect from natural cognitive restrictions that prevent us from competing with AI, the idea that humans might attain complete control over their own intelligence and strength is, for many, unpalatable and unnatural.