Camille Perez ’27
Imagine being able to control a screen with your mind. Though this might sound like a gimmick of telekinesis, Neuralink’s brain-computer interface (BCI) has recently made this possible, having great potential to improve the lives of those with disabilities by restoring function and autonomy.
The Neuralink company, founded by Elon Musk, utilizes a small neural chip named “the Link,” which is composed of 64 thin threads that detect neuron electrical activity at 1,024 sites. The chip processes the neural signals and transmits them to the connected device through Bluetooth. A previous brain-computer interface in 2005 relied on wires to transmit the data to the device, but Neuralink utilizes a completely wireless device connection and charging. The chip is implanted into the skull by a surgical robot and weaved into the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for essential functions such as memory, thinking, learning, reasoning, and problem-solving.
On March 20, 2024, a video of the first patient to be implanted with Neuralink was released playing a game of chess by controlling the computer with his mind. Noland Arbaugh was paralyzed due to a diving accident eight years ago and is now quadriplegic. After his surgery in January, Arbaugh claimed he was released from the hospital after a day and has no cognitive impairments, and Musk followed up that he was recovering well. Arbaugh acknowledged that there is still a lot of room for improvement but that Neuralink has changed his life and allowed him to play video games again, which is a simple joy he believed he had to give up forever after the accident. The website has a patient registry where they have extended clinical trial participation opportunities to people with “limited or no ability to use both hands due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).”
As exciting as this news is, there are some ethical concerns surrounding the research behind Neuralink and its future effects. It’s interesting to note that their website is designed to present Neuralink as a commercial personal product or device. The website is interactive, and the graphics are eye-catching, but the information available on the website is minimal. Though it explains the mission and basics of the implant and technology, the research behind it is not easily accessible. The Neuralink Twitter account also extends the idea of marketing as a commercial product. Transparency and honesty in medical communication are essential to establishing trust with the patients. Exemplified by the pandemic, lack of information and misinformation caused distrust and skepticism in the healthcare industry and vaccines. The Clinical Trial brochure is not very comprehensive and contains most of the same information contained on the website. People looking to participate in the study would likely have many unanswered questions. This is not just a phone or computer that they are advertising – this is a medical device that concerns people’s health.
Neuralink was FDA approved in May 2023, so it has been approved as safe, and effective, and known benefits outweigh the known downsides. However, there has been a lot of ethical backlash. Neuralink’s clinical trials are not registered in the US National Institutes of Health repository ClinicalTrials.gov, again widening the information and trust gap between the company and the public. In 2021, the Link was implanted in a macaque monkey and it was able to control a game of Pong on a computer. Neuralink was partnered with the University of California to perform research on primates. However, 15 out of the 30 of the monkeys that were tested died after implantation. Musk claimed that the monkeys did not die because of the implant but rather because they were chronically ill beforehand. Nonetheless, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine sent a letter to the US Department of Agriculture for reports of animal cruelty and suffering and requested an investigation. A lawsuit was filed against the University of California, but image and video evidence was withheld since Neuralink is a private company. As much as they claim they are taking into account the well-being of their subjects, it’s important to remember the ethics of how technology is tested on living animals.
Sharing the uncertainties of research increases the trust between the researchers and the public. While the company may be hesitant to share their shortcomings, when people are told the whole narrative, they are more aware that they are being told the truth. Neuralink certainly shows promising potential, but the public doesn’t just want occasional tweets on their successes. Ian Burkhart, a co-founder of the BCI Pioneers Coalition, says that “they could do much better with how much information they are releasing, instead of having everyone speculate on it.” The very people who would benefit from this technology would also benefit from complete transparency.
Camille Perez is a staff writer at The Princeton Medical Review. She can be reached at cp5208@princeton.edu
References
Drew, L. (2024, February 2). Elon Musk’s Neuralink brain chip: What scientists think of first human trial. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00304-4 en.wikipedia.org+15nature.com+15bbnchasm.com+15
Reuters. (2024, March 21). Neuralink shows first brain‑chip patient playing online chess. Reuters. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/neuralink-shows-first-brain-chip-patient-playing-online-chess-2024-03-21/ theverge.com+7reuters.com+7emirates247.com+7
Neuralink. (n.d.). Homepage. Retrieved June 23, 2025, from https://neuralink.com/ pub.towardsai.net+4neuralink.com+4vce.usc.edu+4
Neuralink. (n.d.). PRIME Study brochure. Retrieved June 23, 2025, from https://neuralink.com/pdfs/PRIME-Study-Brochure.pdf
CapTechU. (n.d.). Neuralink’s brain chip: How it works and what it means. CapTechU Blog. Retrieved June 23, 2025, from https://www.captechu.edu/blog/neuralinks-brain-chip-how-it-works-and-what-it-means#:~:text=The%20Technology%20Behind%20the%20Neuralink
Badran, B. W. (2024). History of brain–computer interfaces. In The Brain–Machine Interface (PMC8083990). PMC. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7824107/ pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Krämer, K. (2024, February 6). AI & robotics briefing: Lack of transparency surrounds Neuralink’s ‘brain‑reading’ chip. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00375-3 bbnchasm.com+4pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov+4tech4humanitylab.clahs.vt.edu+4
Weerakoon, S. (2024). Ethical considerations of Neuralink and brain–computer interfaces [Review]. PMC. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9345324/ pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Drew, L. (2024). Elon Musk’s Neuralink brain chip: what scientists think of first human trial. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00304-4 pub.towardsai.net+10nature.com+10scientiamag.org+10
Taylor, M. (2024). Ethical concerns in transportation of hazardous materials by Neuralink. Reuters. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/technology/musk-brain-implant-company-violated-us-hazardous-material-transport-rules-2024-01-26/ theverge.com+13scientiamag.org+13bbnchasm.com+13
Drew, L. (2024). Neuralink’s first brain‑chip patient plays online chess [Video]. Reuters. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/video/watch/idRW959621032024RP1/ aljazeera.com+6reuters.com+6reuters.com+6
Jecker, N. S., & Ko, A. (2024, February 19). Elon Musk’s Neuralink raises transparency and hacking concerns. LiveScience. Retrieved from https://www.livescience.com/health/neuroscience/elon-musks-neuralink-has-concerning-lack-of-transparency-and-could-be-vulnerable-to-hacking-ethicists-warn livescience.com+1yahoo.com+1
Leave a Reply