Elon Musk’s Neuralink raises $650 million in fresh capital

Elon Musk’s Brain Tech startup, Neurup, ended a funding cycle of $ 650 million, the company announced on Monday.

Ark Invest, Founders Fund, Sequoia Capital, Thrive Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners and other companies participated in the round, according to a press release. Neuralink said the new capital will help the company bring its technology to more patients and develop new devices that “deepen the link between biological and artificial intelligence. “”

Neuralink builds a brain interface, or a BCI, which is a system that reflects control brain signals for external technologies.

The first system of the company, called telepathy, implies 64 “son” which are inserted directly into the brain. The wires are thinner than human hair and record neural signals through 1,024 electrodes, according to Neuralink website.

The initial objective of technology is to help patients suffering from severe paralysis to restore a certain independence. Five patients were established with Neuralink technology on Monday and are able to “control digital and physical devices with their thoughts,” the statement said.

Neuralink currently performs four distinct clinical trials around his telepathy system.

BCIs have been studied in the academic world for decades and several other companies, including SynchronousParadrome and Precision neuroscience develop their own systems.

Paradromics announced Monday that it had succeeded in implanting its BCI in a human for the first time.

We do not know exactly which neuralink devices will seek to develop afterwards, but Musk has for years great ambitions for the Brain Tech startup. He even said that he would be willing to obtain an implant himself.

One of the capacities that Musk has shown several times is the ability to restore vision to blind patients.

Neuralink has received an “revolutionary device” of the US Food and Drug Administration for a device called Blindsight. This designation is granted to medical devices that have the potential to provide improved treatment for debilitating or potentially fatal conditions.

In an article on his social media platform X in September, Musk said that Blindsight will even allow those who have lost their eyes and their optic nerve.

Neuralink still has a long road before being able to market these technologies.

WATCH: Neuralink shares a patient video playing chess using brain implant