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Report: Elon Musk to launch new company that connects brains to computers
As if being a billionaire futurist and chief executive of both Space Exploration Technologies Corp. and Tesla Inc. isn’t enough, Elon Musk is launching yet another company, this time focused on neural implants.
Citing unnamed sources familiar with the venture, the Wall Street Journal reported the new company would be called Neuralink. It’s supposedly working on something called “neural lace” technology that allows people to communicate with machines without the need for a physical interface. Neuralink was registered as a medical-research company in California in July, the report said.
The neural lace technology involves implanting electrodes in the human brain, allowing people to upload or download their thoughts to a computer. Filings by the new company suggest that it will build devices that are designed to diagnose or treat neurological conditions such as epilepsy or major depression, and there are claims they could also augment human cognitive powers, the report says.
The Journal notes that Musk himself has yet to confirm his role with the new company, but this wouldn’t be the first time he’s shown an interest in neural lace technology. At Vox Media’s Code Conference in 2016, Musk spoke about the potential of the technology, saying it would help to ensure humans aren’t treated like “house cats” by artificial intelligence. “The solution that seems maybe the best is to have an AI layer,” Musk said at the Vox Code Conference. “A third, digital layer that could work symbiotically.”
Musk also tweeted last January that he might make an announcement about neural lace soon.
Neuralink reportedly will be funded either by Musk himself, or the Founders Fund, which is a venture capital firm founded by Peter Thiel. Neuralink has hired three people already, including Vanessa Tolosa of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Philip Sabes of the University of California at San Francisco and Timothy Gardner of Boston University, according to reports.
There’s also a very sparse-looking website up on the Neuralink.com that provides an email for job applicants and nothing else.
Image: Tesla Club Belgium/Flickr.com
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