What Is Neuralink? What We Know So Far.

Neuralink is a neurotechnology company founded by Elon Musk that has built an implantable, brain-computer interface (BCI) capable of translating thought into action. Launched in 2016, the private venture claims its neural device will allow people with paraplegia to regain movement and potentially restore vision to those born blind.

Neuralink implanted its first device in a patient’s brain in January 2024. The patient, who is paralyzed below the shoulders, has used the Neuralink device to play chess and is now using it to learn French and Japanese.

What Is Neuralink?

Neuralink is a neurotechnology company that has built a BCI device “designed to connect human brains directly to computers,” said Ramses Alcaide, CEO of Neurable, a neurotech company developing non-invasive, brain-computer interfaces in the form of headphones. “[Neuralink’s technology] is capable of recording and decoding neural signals and then transmitting information back to the brain using electrical stimulation.”

The implant is known as the N1 Implant or “the Link.” This coin-sized brain chip is surgically embedded under the skull, where it receives information from neural threads that fan out into different sections of a subject’s brain in control of motor skills. Each wire contains sensors capable of recording and emitting electrical currents that are “so fine that they can’t be inserted by the human hand,” according to Neuralink’s website. That’s why Neuralink has built a neurosurgical robot that’s designed to become fully automated.

The company has also developed a Neuralink-specific app that allows a person to manipulate a keyboard and mouse using only their mind.

“Neuralink is really at the vanguard of creating the commercialized, scalable versions of what has been pioneered in academia,” said Sumner Norman, a scientist at nonprofit startup Convergent Research and former chief brain-computer interface scientist at software firm AE Studio.

“There’s been decades of academic research to push this [field] as far as it can go,” he said, “but ultimately, it becomes a very expensive space to develop.”

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How Does Neuralink Work?

Neuralink’s underlying technology works in the same way as electrophysiology, Norman explained.

The electrical chemical signals in our nervous system spark as neurons communicate with one another across gaps between nerve cells known as synapses. This brain activity is captured by electrodes, or sensors that detect voltages, measuring the change in “spikes” of when these voltages fire (or potentially fire).

In other words, our brain activity data is captured not only when we take action, but also if we think about taking action. That’s not to say the brain-computer interfacing that Neuralink does is on the same level as mind reading.

“It simply measures the brain activity and interprets it as an action,” said Sonal Baberwal, a Dublin City University-based researcher developing machine learning algorithms built into brain-computer interface wearables. “Similarly with your brain signals — eyes closed or opened, a relaxed or deep-sleep state, an action or focus state — all of these aspects can be detected.”

As these devices record complex data sets, machine learning algorithms and other artificial intelligence agents are then employed to make sense of the information.

What Will Neuralink Do? 

According to Neuralink’s website, the company’s initial goal is to help those immobilized by paralysis to control external devices with their thoughts and regain lost communication skills. Down the line, it intends to pursue restoring motor, sensory and visual functions as well as treatment of neurological disorders.

“A Neuralink-like device has the potential to enhance human memory, processing speed and cognitive abilities by creating a direct interface between the human brain and digital devices,” Alcaide said.

Restore Mobility

Brain-computer interfaces can be used to control prosthetics or exoskeletons. This use case would enable people with paralysis or amputations to regain a certain level of mobility and independence, according to Alcaide.

Improve Communication for Non-Verbal Individuals

Neuralink’s main focus is to help people who are unable to speak or write communicate with others by allowing them to control a virtual mouse or keyboard or send messages by thought. For example, someone with paraplegia would be able to manipulate a computer or mobile device using speech or text synthesis to surf the web and create digital art.

Treat Neurological Conditions

By monitoring brain activity, brain-computer interfaces may also detect changes that may indicate neurological conditions such as epilepsy, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease, Alcaide said.

They can also be used to monitor mental health symptoms. Electrical stimulation could be delivered to targeted areas in the brain as a treatment for burnout, fatigue, anxiety and depression, which, unlike motor skills that are localized to one area, are spread throughout the brain, Norman noted.

“Treating or curing paralysis, neurological disorders and injuries could make the world a substantially nicer place, where very few people have untreatable forms of depression or anxiety,” said Norman, who has spent a decade developing brain-computer interfaces and neuroprosthetics for people with neurological injury or disease. “Giving agency back to those who’ve lost it — that’s an undeniable benefit.”

Enhance Cognitive Abilities

This tech can also help people improve their focus, memory and attention by allowing them to train their brain using real-time biofeedback and other techniques. In Musk’s words, the Link is a sort of “Fitbit in your skull” with “all the sensors you’d expect to see in a smartwatch.”

“If suddenly you could get every neuron in the human brain and sense them all at once, what would you actually do with that data? We don’t know,” Norman said. “There’s 80 billion neurons in the brain with about 1,000 synapses in between them — how do you interpret that kind of data?”

Neuralink’s technology is currently detecting up to 10,000 of these connections — a big step up from the hundreds being studied in academic trials, Norman said.

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Is Neuralink FDA Approved?

Yes. Neuralink announced on May 25, 2023, that it received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for an in-human clinical trial. The company began recruiting for the trial in September of 2023 and continues to provide PRIME Study progress updates on its blog page.

In May 2025, Neuralink also announced that it received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for speech, a program that aims to expedite the development, assessment and review of medical devices, helping them reach patients and healthcare providers more quickly. For Neuralink in particular, this designation helps it speed up the development of BCI devices that restore communication for individuals with severe speech impairment — specifically those affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), stroke, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and other neurological conditions.

In other news, Precision Neuroscience, a brain-computer interface company and competitor to Neuralink, received FDA 510(k) clearance for its Layer 7 Cortical Interface BCI implant. The implant is intended to record, monitor and stimulate electrical activity on the surface of the brain for clinical applications, such as intraoperative brain mapping. Precision Neuroscience stated the FDA clearance “marks the first full regulatory clearance granted to a company developing a next-generation wireless BCI.”

Is Neuralink Being Used on Humans?

Yes. A human patient, 29-year-old Noland Arbaugh, received the first Neuralink implant on January 28, 2024. In a May 2024 blog post, Neuralink reported that, in the weeks following the surgery, Arbaugh had been successfully using the implant to control his laptop while lying down in bed. Although threads retracted from Arbaugh’s brain early on, they have since stabilized. 

In August 2024, a second human patient named Alex also received the Neuralink implant, this time without any threads retracting. He has used Neuralink to play the first-person shooter game Counter-Strike 2, being able to simultaneously control a mouse and keyboard to perform more seamless gameplay.

In January 2025, Bradford Smith became the third human patient — plus the first patient with ALS and first non-verbal patient — to receive a Neuralink implant. Smith stated in a video on X that he cannot move a majority of his body due to ALS, though he is able to type, click, move his mouse cursor and even play Mario Kart with his thoughts by using Neuralink.

Notable Neuralink Developments

Since 2016, Neuralink has made measurable progress in its effort to commercialize BCI technology. 

Here are some key developments and milestones to know in Neuralink’s history as a company:

Neuralink Receives FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for Speech (May 2025)

Neuralink received FDA Breakthrough Designation for speech and speech restoration. This allowed Neuralink to accelerate the development of BCI devices that help restore communication for individuals with severe speech impairment. The designation also opened the possibility for Neuralink’s speech-focused devices to be available in future clinical trials for speech restoration.

Neuralink’s Blindsight Receives FDA Breakthrough Device Designation (September 2024)

Neuralink received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for its Blindsight device, an implant used to generate and restore visual perception for individuals who have lost the ability to see. The designation allowed for expedited development of Blindsight, positioning Neuralink to fast-track its efforts to restore vision using BCI implants. This also signaled the potential for Blindsight to be available in future Neuralink clinical trials for visual prosthesis.

First Human Patient Uses Neuralink Device (January 2024)

Neuralink implanted its device in its first human trial participant, Noland Arbaugh, in January 2024. In the weeks following the procedure, Arbaugh demonstrated real-world use of his brain implant by controlling a computer mouse cursor using thought alone. The procedure marked a major validation of Neuralink’s  approach to BCI and its viability in human subjects.

Neuralink Receives FDA Approval for Human Trials (May 2023)

In May 2023, the FDA approved Neuralink to begin human clinical trials. The approval allowed the company to launch its first in-human clinical trial (known as the PRIME Study) in September 2023 for individuals with quadriplegia due to spinal cord injury or ALS. This milestone was crucial in establishing regulatory legitimacy for Neuralink after prior criticism over animal testing practices.

Neuralink Demonstrates Implant in Monkey (April 2021)

Neuralink demonstrated a monkey named Pager playing a game of Pong using only his brain activity through a Neuralink implant, a scenario the company dubbed “MindPong.” In the demo video, Pager controls the Pong paddle on-screen via the implant to bounce the ball across the monitor. Neuralink stated its first goal as a company was to “give people with paralysis their digital freedom back,” and that the MindPong demonstration showcased what the N1 implant could do.

Neuralink Founding (June 2016)

Neuralink was founded in June 2016 by Elon Musk and a team of eight scientists, and was first confirmed to exist by Neuralink co-founder Max Hodak in March 2017. In an April 2017 interview with “Wait But Why,” Musk said Neuralink aimed to create a product that helped with “certain severe brain injuries” like stroke, cancer or lesions. Neuralink’s foundation marked Musk’s formal entry into the BCI field, and the first company he established specifically to develop BCI technology.

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