Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Blue Label Telecoms to change its name as restructuring gathers pace

      11 July 2025

      Get your ID delivered like pizza – home affairs’ latest digital shake-up

      11 July 2025

      EFF vows to stop Starlink from launching in South Africa

      11 July 2025

      Apple plans product blitz to reignite growth

      11 July 2025

      Nissan doubles down on South Africa despite plant uncertainty

      11 July 2025
    • World

      Grok 4 arrives with bold claims and fresh controversy

      10 July 2025

      Bitcoin pushes higher into record territory

      10 July 2025

      Cupertino vs Brussels: Apple challenges Big Tech crackdown

      7 July 2025

      Grammarly acquires e-mail start-up Superhuman

      1 July 2025

      Apple considers ditching its own AI in Siri overhaul

      1 July 2025
    • In-depth

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025
    • TCS

      TCS+ | MVNX on the opportunities in South Africa’s booming MVNO market

      11 July 2025

      TCS | Connecting Saffas – Renier Lombard on The Lekker Network

      7 July 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E4: Takealot’s big Post Office jobs plan

      4 July 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      3 July 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on the latest and greatest cloud technologies

      27 June 2025
    • Opinion

      In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

      30 June 2025

      E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

      30 June 2025

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » World » Elon Musk hopes to put brain-reading implant in human by 2020

    Elon Musk hopes to put brain-reading implant in human by 2020

    By Jamie Harris17 July 2019
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp
    Elon Musk

    Elon Musk is hoping patients with severe neurological conditions will be able to test wireless technology connecting the human brain to computers as soon as 2020.

    The SpaceX founder’s start-up, Neuralink, has sought approval from the US Food and Drug Administration and has already tested its technology on a monkey, which was able to control a computer with its brain, Musk said.

    Scientists behind the project have developed a tiny implant with more than 3 000 electrodes, attached to flexible threads measuring about the tenth of the size of a hair, capable of monitoring around 1 000 neurons.

    This, I think, has a very good purpose, which is to cure important diseases, and ultimately to help secure humanity’s future as a civilisation, relative to AI

    It would link up to an app, allowing users to control a mobile device, or a mouse and keyboard on a computer.

    Although the technology is initially aimed at helping those with brain disorders, the 48-year-old said a brain-machine interface is needed in the future to mitigate the “existential threat of AI”.

    “This is something that I think is going to be really important at a civilisation level,” he explained at an event in San Francisco. “This, I think, has a very good purpose, which is to cure important diseases, and ultimately to help secure humanity’s future as a civilisation, relative to AI.”

    Neuralink is “aspirationally” aiming to implant the device in a human patient by the end of next year.

    Much work to do

    However, the entrepreneur warned that there was still much work to do, saying that the main purpose of the event was to recruit more staff.

    “There is an incredible amount we can do to solve brain disorders, damage, and all this will occur quite slowly, so I do want to emphasise that it’s not going to be like, suddenly Neuralink will have this incredible neural lace and start taking over people’s brains,” he said.

    “The overarching objective is to make the future better, aspirationally, and to hopefully not pave the road to hell with good intentions.”



    Elon Musk Neuralink
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleProbe unearths ‘serious wrongdoing’ at EOH
    Next Article Apple to fund original podcasts

    Related Posts

    EFF vows to stop Starlink from launching in South Africa

    11 July 2025

    Grok 4 arrives with bold claims and fresh controversy

    10 July 2025

    The satellite broadband operators taking on Starlink

    9 July 2025
    Company News

    $125-trillion traded: Binance redefines global finance in just eight years

    11 July 2025

    NEC XON welcomes HPE acquisition of Juniper Networks

    11 July 2025

    LTE Cat 1 vs Cat 1 bis – what’s the difference?

    11 July 2025
    Opinion

    In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

    30 June 2025

    E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

    30 June 2025

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.