Elon Musk can now put his brain implants in humans

Elon Musk owns Twitter. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

• Elon Musk’s Neuralink said Thursday it got FDA approval to conduct a “first-in-human clinical study.”
• So far the company has only tested the brain implants on animals, such as pigs and monkeys.
• Neuralink says the brain chips could allow people to complete tasks using only their minds.

Elon Musk finally got approval from the Food and Drug Administration to start implanting his company’s brain chips in humans, Neuralink announced Thursday.

Neuralink, which was founded by Musk in 2016, said on Twitter it received FDA approval to launch its “first-in-human clinical study.” The company added “recruitment is not yet open” to participate in the clinical trial, but that they’d be sharing more information on that soon.

In March the FDA rejected Neuralink’s request for approval to being human testing, citing several concerns that would first need to be addressed, Reuters reported at the time. Among the safety concerns were that the brain chip wires could move around or that the chip could overheat.

So far Neuralink has only tested the brain chips on animals, including pigs and monkeys.

Neuralink says its brain chips could allow people to complete tasks using only their minds and help treat certain medical conditions.