Elon Musk is Reportedly Considering Investment in Neuralink’s Rival Brain Chip Company
Neuralink, a company co-founded by Elon Musk, has been working on an implantable brain machine interface since 2016. While it previously showed its progress by showing a Macaque ape managing the cursor in a game of Pong, it still has to start human tests. Now, according to Reuters, Elon Musk has reached out to rival company Synchron in current weeks to discuss one potential investment.
It is unclear what kind of deal Musk has offered– whether it is a collaboration or a financial investment– since none of the players responded or confirmed the report with the news organization. Reuters’ sources also said that a deal is not specific and that Synchron has yet to decide whether to accept Musk’s offer. Evidently, the executive approached Synchron CEO after expressing his disappointment to Neuralink staff over the company’s slow progress.
Neuralink introduced way back in 2019 that it would look for approval for human tests in 2020. In January of this yr, the company started searching for a clinical test director who would supervise the testing of its medical gadget on human subjects. Nevertheless, that has yet to take place, and the FDA has yet to expose how far along Neuralink is in the procedure of securing its authorization.
Meanwhile, Synchron released in July that it had implanted its brain-computer interface into the motor cortex of a human patient in the United States for the 1st time. Doctors in New York’s Mount Sinai West did so as part of the company’s COMMAND test, which aims to examine the security of Synchron’s implant in patients with severe paralysis. The company also finished a study research in Australia, wherein 4 people were determined to still be secure even after a year with its implant.
Such as Neuralink, Synchron likewise intends to provide people with minimal mobility and the capacity to control gadgets like smartphones and computers with their minds. That will provide the independence to email, message, and do various electronic tasks. Earlier this yr, Max Hodak, the Neuralink co-founder that left the company in 2021, revealed that he took on an advisory function with Synchron. He also financially invested in the company and “offered [his] excitement for what they are doing.”
It is worth noting, however, that Elon Musk reportedly held discussions with other Neuralink rivals in the past. Reuters states he also approached brain-machine interface developer Paradromics in 2020; however, those talks were ultimately abandoned.
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