Neuralink is starting human trials on a brain implant that will allow someone to operate a computer using only their thoughts.
“Our first product is called Telepathy, and that enables someone who has lost the ability to command their body to be able to communicate with a computer and the ability to do conceptual, consensual telepathy,” said Elon Musk.
According to Nueralink, when a person speaks, certain areas of the brain are activated to signal the mouth, tongue, and voice box. Multiple neurological conditions, including cerebral palsy, stroke, and spinal cord injury, can impact a person’s brain from sending these speech signals. The implant is supposed to record and decode these brain signals and generate the thought into text or speech.
For those who are potentially eligible for the implant, a patient must have a severe speech impairment and impaired upper limb function due to specific conditions, be at least 22 years old and have a consistent caregiver.
Ken Shock suffers from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly called Lou Gehrig's Disease or ALS. It destroys the motor neurons controlling voluntary muscles, slowly robbing the body of its ability to move and eventually to speak.
Ken's wife Cheryl says the Neuralink implant is bringing her husband back to her.
“In January of 2026, Ken became the second participant to receive a Neuralink implant for voice. He will be able to think and his device will speak for him and it will sound like him. It will be OG Ken from way back in 2020 before his voice changed,” Cheryl says.
“I'd like to go out. I'd like to be able to go and do things. I can't even go shopping anymore,” Ken says.
Ken's ALS has progressed to the point where his speech is slurred and hard to understand. With the implant, Ken imagines his mouth saying the words, and it's translated to the computer so he's able to speak.
