Tesla CEO Reveals Bluetooth-Enabled Brain Device as Newest Project

Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed that he is creating a Bluetooth-enabled brain implant. In an event last July, Musk unveiled a microchip that can be implanted into the brain. Neuralink, a startup Musk founded specifically for the device, has been working on it since 2017. Musk developed the microchip in hopes of helping people with conditions such as brain damage and spinal cord injuries. He envisioned the microchip helping these people control devices using their minds. The chip has very fine threads that are one-tenth as thick as human hair. It also comes with a computer earpiece that can connect to smartphones via Bluetooth. It will be placed in the brain using a surgeon-controlled robot that will drill small holes in a person’s skull. The device will be inserted into certain parts of the brain where the threads can become receptors of electrical signals from neurons—cells that carry information from the brain to different parts of the body. Then, the chip will interpret the signals and relay it to the earpiece. The earpiece will then transmit the information to a phone or computer with the app that lets the user control the chip. Despite Musk’s positive vision for the microchip, some analysts are wary of it. They fear that people working with the chip could breach patients’ privacy or mishandle their personal data. Critics argued that Neuralink offers no assurance on the security of the data that it will gather directly from people’s brains. So, they have urged Neuralink to address the possible security and ethical issues that may arise from using gadgets like this brain implant.