"This is increasingly sounding like a Black Mirror episode"—Elon Musk, introducing Neuralink.
Elon Musk's brain-computer-interface venture today unveiled a prototype that involves a pig with a computer chip implanted inside their brain.
The coin-sized device is implanted beneath the creature's skull.
"It's like a Fitbit, but in your skull," says Musk, and it's implanted by a robot.
"Non-consenual, conceptual telepathy" is another phrase Musk mentions, along with the ability to see bloodstains. Great.
The goal is to "cure neurological conditions like Alzheimer's, dementia and spinal cord injuries and ultimately fuse humankind with artificial intelligence," reports Reuters:
"An implantable device can actually solve these problems," Musk said on a webcast Friday, mentioning ailments such as memory loss, hearing loss, depression and insomnia.
But Musk said the focus of Friday's event was recruiting. "We're not trying to raise money," Musk said. "We're trying to convince great people to come work at Neuralink."
Neuralink has received $158 million in funding, $100 million of which came from Musk, and employs roughly 100 staff members, according to LinkedIn data.
