Hackers can siphon data from a Neuralink computer chip embedded in a person’s brain, the first patient to receive the advanced medical device had admitted.
Noland Arbaugh, the 29-year-old patient who was left paralyzed below the shoulder after a diving accident, discussed the threat of hackers in a candid podcast interview with Joe Rogan.
Asked whether cyber attackers could hack the brain chip, which is about the size of a coin and developed by teams working at Elon Musk’s startup Neuralink, Arbaugh said: “The short answer is yes.”
“At least at the moment it’s hacking, [the Neuralink interface] wouldn’t really do much,” he added. “Maybe you can see some brain signals, maybe you can see some of the data that Link is collecting and then maybe you can control my cursor on my screen and make me look at weird things, but that’s about it.”
SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has poured millions into the medical startup Neuralink
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SpaceX co-founder Elon Musk confirmed the operation was successful revealed that the patient could control a computer mouse with his thoughts end of February.
“The surgery was super easy,” Mr. Arbaugh told viewers a month later in the live video streamed on Elon Musk’s social media platform X, formerly Twitter. “I was literally released from the hospital a day later. I have no cognitive impairment.”
Mr. Arbaugh uses the Neuralink chip in his head to move a cursor on the screen using his thoughts. The chip, which was inserted by a robot during a procedure that required only a local anesthetic, has 1,024 electrodes that monitor brain activity in the area that controls the intention to move.
Once he recovered from the surgery, Neuralink programmers worked with Mr. Arbaugh to move a cursor on the screen by thinking about moving his hand. He explained: “The signal is sent before you even move your hand, your mind says, ‘Okay, he’s about to move his hand,’ so the signal has to be sent all the way down and back up again so that you can move your hand.
“So the speed at which all that happens is almost a bit preemptive.”
Asked by Joe Rogan about what he uses the brain chip for, Mr. Arbaugh explained: “I use it to message people on to a site I use to learn Japanese,” he said. “I also used it to book a hotel for when I visited Neuralink’s headquarters.”
According to Mr. Arbaugh, in the weeks following the surgery, about 85% of the electrodes that monitor his brain activity became dislodged, meaning the Neuralink chip no longer works at full capacity. It is unclear what can be done to restore the missing functionality. He explained: “They will have to test to see if the surgery to replace a Neuralink is safe at some point… so they will have to do it in people who already have it.
“I would imagine that this type of research is something I would be involved in.”
Neuralink shared the following excerpt on its website, giving a glimpse of what it hopes to achieve with its brain chip experiment
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Neuralink, which launched in 2016, received approval for human trial recruitment in September 2023. At the time, the California company said it was looking for volunteers aged 22 or older with quadriplegia caused by cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
The live stream on X this week is the first time we learn the identity of the volunteer.
Not everyone is floored by Neuralink’s revelations about the first human trials.
Kip Ludwig, former program director for neural engineering at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, decried the progress described by Neuralink, arguing that nothing so far has been a “breakthrough.”
“It’s still early days post-implant and there’s a lot of learning going on, both on the Neuralink side and the subject side, to maximize the amount of information for control that can be achieved,” he added.
Still, Ludwig said it was a positive development for the patient that they can now interact with a computer in a way that was not possible before the implant.
“It’s certainly a good starting point,” he admitted.
In previous public statements, the American company revealed the implant contains 1,024 electrodes that record neurological activity and send the data wirelessly to a connected app. An algorithm is used to translate the brain waves into computer controls.
The original goal was to allow someone to control a computer mouse pointer on the screen or type on a keyboard using their thoughts – something the startup now seems to be getting closer to.
A glossy promotional image of the types of brain chips being developed by Neuralink
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The first human trial, known as PRIME (Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface), will last a total of 18 months. Researchers will return the patient home, with regular check-ins at a clinic. A five-year follow-up consisting of twenty clinic visits will follow the initial trial period.
Neuralink says the first clinical trial will last about six years. If you would like to get your name on the list, Here you can register your details with the futuristic start-up company. Or you can read the brochure about the brain chip tests here.
Musk says the technology tested by Neuralink has enormous implications for society. According to the 52-year-old multi-billionaire, the surgical insertion of these chips could be used to treat conditions such as obesity, autism, depression and schizophrenia.
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It could also allow people with physical disabilities to use computers with their thoughts.
Neuralink, which was valued at $5 billion last year, has faced repeated calls for scrutiny over its security protocols. Reuters reported last month that the company had been fined for violating U.S. Department of Transportation rules regarding the transportation of hazardous materials.