Neuralink: Brain chip has a technical problem

Does Neuralink have a problem? This is the conclusion that has been reached by various reports. Now the company behind the promising but controversial brain chip has had to admit that there is indeed a problem with the technology.

Lack of transparency at Neuralink

Neuralink has been rather quiet in recent weeks. This is quite surprising when you consider that the first person was implanted with a chip from the company in January 2024. The weeks that followed were peppered with positive news from the company. For example, the patient is said to have been able to play chess on the PC using the power of thought alone.

Neuralink boss Elon Musk also had nothing but positive things to report in terms of health. According to him, the patient made a full recovery following the operation. However, the premiere of the brain chip does not seem to have gone quite so smoothly after all. As the Wall Street Journal reports, some of the chip’s electrodes in the patient’s brain are said to have become detached.

Neuralink has now confirmed the incident and is being unusually transparent. After all, it has so far been common practice for the company to withhold information. This naturally caused great concern within the scientific community. After all, there are undoubtedly major risks during and after brain surgery that should not be underestimated.

Electrode loss leads to lower performance

Now the question naturally arises as to what consequences the loss of the electrodes will have for the brain chip and even more so for the patient. Neuralink itself probably felt the effects when the paralyzed patient used the mouse pointer on a computer for the first time. This probably resulted in a loss of precision and speed.

According to Gizmodo, the reason for this was a loss of data associated with the loss of electrodes. However, Neuralink apparently had a solution to the performance problem. The company quickly adapted the algorithm of the brain chip, which in turn ensured greater accuracy and better cursor control.

How the loss of electrodes came about is still a mystery, however. The Wall Street Journal report mentions carelessness during the operation. The residual air that was still under the skull after the operation could have caused the electrodes to fall off.