Human trials for Elon Musk's brain chip startup getting ready to launch

Elon Musk's goal of allowing people with paralysis to regain full mobility and "use a smartphone with their mind" may be getting closer, as his brain chip firm prepares to launch human clinical trials.

Neuralink, the startup Musk co-founded in 2016, is currently hiring for a clinical trial director, indicating the company is close to starting human trials.

"As the clinical trial director, you'll work closely with some of the most innovative doctors and top engineers, as well as working with Neuralink's first clinical trial participants!" the job advert says.

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"You will lead and help build the team responsible for enabling Neuralink's clinical research activities and developing the regulatory interactions that come with a fast-paced and ever-evolving environment.

"You are mission-driven and are able to meet tight deadlines with accuracy and efficiency."

Artificial intelligence microchips have already successfully been implanted in the brains of a macaque monkey named Pager and a pig named Gertrude by Neuralink.

In an April 2021 Twitter post, Musk promised the new technology would "enable someone with paralysis to use a smartphone with their mind faster than someone using thumbs".

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"We hope to have this in our first humans, which will be people that have severe spinal cord injuries like tetraplegics and quadriplegics," Musk said at the Wall Street Journal 2021 CEO Council Summit.

"Our standards for implanting the device are substantially higher than what the FDA requires.

"I think we have a chance with Neuralink of being able to restore full body functionality to somebody who has a spinal injury. Meaning I think we have a chance — I emphasise a chance — of being able to allow someone who cannot walk or use their arms to be able to walk again."

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The device would be implanted within the skull and have wireless charging capabilities.

Musk said the best way to think about it was like replacing faulty or missing neurons with circuits.

"Many problems can be solved just bridging signals between existing neurons," he said in a tweet.

"Progress will accelerate when we have devices in humans (hard to have nuanced conversations with monkeys)."