Elon Musk's Neuralink Shows First Brain Chip Patient Playing Online Chess with Mind Effort

Elon Musk's brain chip company Neuralink has revealed its first patient with an implanted chip, who is moving the cursor on a computer using the implanted device.

In a live stream on X, formerly Twitter, 29-year-old patient Noland Arbeau used the cursor for nine minutes to play chess online on his laptop with his mind.

Earlier, after a diving accident, Arbeau was paralysed from the shoulders down and was fitted with a Neuralink chip in January. He became the first person to be implanted with a brain chip. 

The company's goal is to connect the human brain to computers to help manage complex neurological diseases.

"The operation was extremely easy," the patient said during the presentation.

Noland Arbeau also said that he used the brain implant to play the video game Civilisation VI. The Neuralink gave him "the ability to do it again and play for eight hours straight," he said.

Last month, Reuters reported that US Food and Drug Administration inspectors found problems with record-keeping and quality control of animal experiments at Neuralink less than a month after the startup said it had received approval to test its brain implants on humans.

At the time, Neuralink did not respond to questions about the FDA review.

As The Gaze previously reported, in late January, Elon Musk announced that his company Neuralink had successfully implanted one of its wireless brain chips in the first human patient. The patient is doing well and recovering quickly. Initial results showed promising nerve impulses.