Neuralink transplant patient can control computer mouse 'by just thinking,' Elon Musk says

The recipient of the world's first Neuralink brain-chip transplant is able to control a computer mouse by thinking, the tech startup's founder Elon Musk announced this week.

"Progress is good, and the patient seems to have made a full recovery, with no ill effects that we are aware of," Reuters reported that Musk said in an X Spaces event on Monday. "Patient is able to move a mouse around the screen by just thinking."

Musk added that Neuralink was trying to get the patient to click the mouse as much as possible, Reuters reported.

First human received Neuralink brain implant in January

In January, Neuralink announced it had successfully implanted the first patient with its brain chip technology, work building on decades of research from academic labs and other companies, connecting human brains to computers to address human diseases and disabilities.

Prior to implanting the chip in the patient, Nauralink received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to implant brain chips into humans, and approval in September to recruit for the first-in-human clinical trial.

How does the Neuralink brain implant work?

The device works by recording activity from electrodes placed next to individual brain cells, making it possible to read out the person's intended movement.

Musk, the billionare founder of Neuralink and owner of X, previously said he has high hopes for the future of Neuralink. In an online chat in 2021, Musk said it could enable someone who was "tetraplegic or quadriplegic to control a computer, or mouse, or their phone, or really any device … just by thinking."