The first invasive brain chip that Neuralink embedded into a human brain has malfunctioned, with neuron-surveilling threads appearing to have become dislodged from the participant's brain, the company revealed in a blog post Wednesday.

It's unclear what caused the threads to become "retracted" from the brain, how many have retracted, or if the displaced threads pose a safety risk. Neuralink, the brain-computer interface startup run by controversial billionaire Elon Musk, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Ars. The company said in its blog post that the problem began in late February, but it has since been able to compensate for the lost data to some extent by modifying its algorithm.

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[+] 145 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)
  • [–] 95 points 2 years ago (10 children)

    The company said in its blog post that the problem began in late February, but it has since been able to compensate for the lost data to some extent by modifying its algorithm.

    Because that's what people are worried about: THE LOST DATA.

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  • [–] 26 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    Can you imagine the marketing value?

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  • [–] 20 points 2 years ago* (3 children)

    When a computer reads some signal, the 0s and 1s in it's memory is the data. The data must be processed so that the computer can understand it.

    This computer is using threads to read neuron activity. It must necessarily receive data because if it didn't it wouldn't be reading neuron activity. They're the same thing.

    This data is processed so that the computer can make sense of the brain. Once it understands some activity it generates signals that can control external devices.

    Here's an example. Imagine a device that monitors the heart and does something to fix a problem. The device would get data on the heart and process the data so that it can perform it's function.

    Wouldn't monitoring health concerns and mitigating data loss be extremely important in these scenarios?

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  • [–] 26 points 2 years ago* (2 children)

    The point is that this is the opening paragraph about something going wrong in human brain surgery, and the first thing they tell us is "don't worry, the data's fine", rather than anything about the human. Indeed, you have to read to the last paragraph to find:

    Arbaugh's safety does not appear to be negatively impacted.

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  • [–] 12 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child)

    and the first thing they tell us is “don’t worry, the data’s fine”, rather than anything about the human.

    I do agree it would have been significantly more considerate to mention that the person is ok first, but I feel like you're confusing data storage (ie something they're collecting) with data processing (ie how the device operates). The data in question is the latter. In other words, they are explaining that the problems are being accounted for so that the device can still function in the human it's attached to.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago

    No, I understood that, I did read the article. I'm lambasting the fact that in an article about "brain chip gone wrong", burying the "but human seems to be unharmed" at the end of an article is indicative of a set of priorities wildly different from my own.

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  • [–] 78 points 2 years ago

    Have they tried firing most of the neurons, keeping only the most hardcore?

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  • [–] 51 points 2 years ago (24 children)

    I can't believe anyone willingly got this after the monkey testing thing. They have to be taking advantage of people not fit to make decisions for themselves.

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  • [–] 73 points 2 years ago* (22 children)

    The patient became quadriplegia in a car accident, I wouldn't call it unfit for decisions but definitely someone desperate to find a sense of normalcy.

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  • [–] 31 points 2 years ago* (7 children)

    Guy has nothing left to lose really, I don’t blame him for taking this risk considering I would strongly consider it myself were I in his situation

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  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child)

    Yes, unfortunately this is the case. In an article I read the guy was able to pay chess and Age of Empires with his thoughts and the chip, quite impressive tech indeed, it’s just that you absolutely cannot trust anything near Musk

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  • [–] 46 points 2 years ago (8 children)

    I don't know which company I would trust developing my brain implant, but it sure as hell isn't Tesla. Their software and hardware history is less than stellar.

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    [+] 40 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (5 children)
  • [+] 28 points 2 years ago (4 children)
  • [–] 32 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    What are we going to do tomorrow night Brain?

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  • [–] 23 points 2 years ago

    Well, that'll happen if you don't take your Neuropozyne. Their test subject should have budgeted for that before getting augmented.

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  • [–] 20 points 2 years ago
    [–] 20 points 2 years ago

    No one could have predicted this totally predictable situation.

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  • [–] 16 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Honestly surprised he didn't just run into a wall

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  • [–] 10 points 2 years ago

    If only someone could have predicted

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago

    Well... that's probably the most expected thing to ever be expected. It was never a matter of 'if', it was a matter of when.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago

    Just another rapid disassembly, nothing to see here..

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  • [+] 4 points 2 years ago (2 children)
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    [–] 3 points 2 years ago

    This technology is amazing. I hope this turns out well for the volunteer.

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