It's unclear what caused the retraction or how many threads have become displaced.

The first invasive brain chip that Neuralink embedded into a human brain has malfunctioned, with neuron-surveilling threads appearing to have become dislodged from the participant’s brain, the company revealed in a blog post Wednesday.

It’s unclear what caused the threads to become “retracted” from the brain, how many have retracted, or if the displaced threads pose a safety risk. Neuralink, the brain-computer interface startup run by controversial billionaire Elon Musk, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Ars. The company said in its blog post that the problem began in late February, but it has since been able to compensate for the lost data to some extent by modifying its algorithm.

  • Grass@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    436·
    7 months ago

    I can’t believe anyone willingly got this after the monkey testing thing. They have to be taking advantage of people not fit to make decisions for themselves.

    • CaptDust@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      501·
      7 months ago

      The patient became quadriplegia in a car accident, I wouldn’t call it unfit for decisions but definitely someone desperate to find a sense of normalcy.

      • JJROKCZ@lemmy.worldEnglish
        242·
        7 months ago

        Guy has nothing left to lose really, I don’t blame him for taking this risk considering I would strongly consider it myself were I in his situation

        • slaacaa@lemmy.worldEnglish
          61·
          7 months ago

          Yes, unfortunately this is the case. In an article I read the guy was able to pay chess and Age of Empires with his thoughts and the chip, quite impressive tech indeed, it’s just that you absolutely cannot trust anything near Musk

      • Grass@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        8·
        7 months ago

        Not many options I guess. Sucks to have to gamble on the crazy billionaire with a lot of faulty shit.

      • Psythik@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        7 months ago

        Wait, is that what these brain chips are for? Well now I can’t hate on them as much as I used to if they’re meant to help people learn how to walk again. I thought it was just supposed to help you process thoughts more quickly or something, like a math coprocessor in an old 90s PC.

      • over_clox@lemmy.worldEnglish
        46·
        7 months ago

        I thought the goal was to reconnect the brain to the spinal cord though.

        But dude is still stuck in a wheelchair, and so far it’s basically been just a fancy experimental mouse cursor? Installed in his brain? And already failing?..

        • VirtualOdour@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          16·
          7 months ago

          Watching his videos he’s a clever snd self aware guy more than capable of thinking for himself. Hate Elon but you don’t need to shit on the disabled by acting like being in a wheelchair means you can’t think for yourself

          • over_clox@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            7 months ago

            You totally missed my point. I wasn’t shitting on the disabled fella at all. I was 100% shitting on the Neuralink chip, which is supposedly being developed and promoted as a way of fixing paralysis.

            The fact that the man is still in a wheelchair means that Neuralink has achieved 0% of it’s ultimate intended goal. It’s just a fancy mouse cursor (and probably keyboard) so far.

            • VirtualOdour@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              1·
              7 months ago

              Science isn’t magic, nothing gets invented in a single iteration. Don’t let your hate for a single person blind you to reality, allowing someone who can’t control a mouse to do so is breathtaking. it’s not the first time it’s happened but it’s a big step forward and once testing and improvement stages have been completed we’ll hopefully see more fluid links to other movement tools and technologies such as llms which will allow people totally dependent on help to live their own lives.

        • CaptDust@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          8·
          7 months ago

          I don’t really keep up with Elon moon shits, but I think the idea is to substitute the brains neurological commands. Research is still on the “read” stage, like knowing what information the brain is requesting. Eventually neurolink will also need to discover how to relay those signals back to the nervous system in a way it understands, engaging muscles and such, effectively rebuilding the bridge that was damaged. Or robot legs or whatever, but the key is first getting the information into a format they can act on. But I’m not smart, this is just how I understood it.

          • over_clox@lemmy.worldEnglish
            71·
            7 months ago

            And they already killed how many monkeys testing this stuff? Last I heard was that they tested 15 monkeys or so, and 13 of them ended up dying or having to be euthanized after only a few months.

            They already admitted they had problems with their brain electrodes corroding after a few months or so…

            I like to keep my noodle intact thank you very much. Even if I was a vegetable, I wouldn’t want a chip in my head that’s known to have corroding wires.

    • MeanEYE@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      7 months ago

      I can believe people took up on this offer. As the saying goes drowning man will reach for straws. Issue is they probably oversold reliability and safety.

  • MuchPineapples@lemmy.worldEnglish
    341·
    7 months ago

    I don’t know which company I would trust developing my brain implant, but it sure as hell isn’t Tesla. Their software and hardware history is less than stellar.

    • el_abuelo@lemmy.mlEnglish
      31·
      7 months ago

      For stellar technology you need to go to SpaceX. You’ve been shopping at the wrong Musk store.

      • Emerald@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        7 months ago

        Musk store

        Welcome to the Musk store! Go over to customer service and get your brain implant. Then you can start shopping and your Neuralink will know what items you put in your cart. The most convienent shopping experience ever! Just don’t shoplift, we’ll know.

      • beebarfbadger@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        7 months ago

        It’s fiiiiine, I wouldn’t want a stupid brain chip that’s NOT on fire anyway. Looks much cooler and I bet that’s just how Daddy Elon planned it to be.

  • Thrashy@lemmy.worldEnglish
    17·
    7 months ago

    Well, that’ll happen if you don’t take your Neuropozyne. Their test subject should have budgeted for that before getting augmented.

    • Alimentar@lemm.eeEnglish
      1·
      7 months ago

      Through consent. The guy probably either has terminal illness and is happy to contribute to research or is completely paralysed, that an operation like this could benefit both parties.

      It’s an agreement and I’m sure the risks are expressed to the individual.