Elon Musk says Neuralink’s first patient can move a computer mouse ‘by just thinking’

Elon Musk said Neuralink’s first human patient to receive a brain-chip implant can now move a computer mouse cursor using their mind alone. 

The billionaire said the patient had fully recovered after receiving the implant last month. The neurotech firm founder made the claims in an X Spaces on Monday. 

Musk said: “Progress is good, and the patient seems to have made a full recovery, with neural effects that we are aware of. Patient is able to move a mouse around the screen by just thinking.” 

Neuralink is also trying to give recipients the ability to move a mouse in various directions and hold a button down, Musk said. “We’re trying to get as many button presses as possible from thinking, so that’s what we’re currently working on.”

The Neuralink implant, called Telepathy, enables recipients to control their phone or computer “just by thinking”, Musk said in January. The first patients and users of the device will be people “who have lost the use of their limbs.”

The company has previously said its implants could allow people to complete tasks using their thoughts and help treat certain medical conditions.

Neuralink gained approval from the Food and Drug Administration last May to start human trials of its implant. The FDA initially rejected Neuralink’s request last March to start human trials, Reuters reported, over concerns that included the chip possibly overheating.

Last November, Musk revealed that Neuralink is building a “vision chip” that will be ready “in a few years.”

“In the future, we hope to restore capabilities such as vision, motor function, and speech, and eventually expand how we experience the world,” Neuralink states on its website.

The company has not yet received regulatory approval for human trials of the vision chip.

Neuralink didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.