Clinical trials for Musk's brain chip startup are about to begin.
Musk has promised that the technology will enable someone with paralysis to use a phone with their mind faster than someone using thumbs.
The Silicon Valley company, which has already successfully implanted artificial intelligence microchips in the brains of a macaque monkey named Pager and a pig named Gertrude, is now recruiting for a clinical trial director to run tests of the technology in humans.
An advert for a clinical trial director in California says that they will work closely with some of the most innovative doctors and top engineers as well as working with Neuralink's first clinical trial participants. You will help build the team responsible for enabling Neuralink's clinical research activities and developing the regulatory interactions that come with a fast-paced and ever-evolving environment.
Musk said last month that he was cautiously optimistic that the implants could allow people with paraplegics to walk.
He told the Wall Street Journal's CEO Council summit that they hope to have this in their first humans next year.
I think we have a chance with Neuralink to restore full-body function to someone who has a spine injury. Neuralink is working well in monkeys, and we are doing a lot of testing to make sure that the device can be removed safely.
Musk has a history of overstating the speed of the company's development. He predicted that the device would be placed into a human skull by 2020.
Musk said the device would be flush with the skull and have wireless charging.
He said people should think of the technology as a way to replace missing or faulty neurons. When we have devices in humans that are hard to have nuanced conversations with monkeys, progress will accelerate.
Neuralink released a video of a monkey that had been implanted with a chip that was used to play a video game.
The company, which counts a number of well-known Silicon Valley backers among them, is looking for a clinical trial co-ordinator to help build a team of people to run the trial. The opportunity to change the world and work with some of the smartest and most talented experts from different fields is what applicants are told they have.
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