Article Neuralink’s FDA troubles are just the beginning ("Left sics the dogs on Elon" style)

[Yazata]

Neuralink has leased this building in South San Francisco

They are still headquartered in Fremont California I believe. They also have a large operation in Austin Texas that might eventually become their heaquarters.

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[Yazata]

Audrey Crews is the first female recipient of a Neuralink brain implant. She's also become something of an artist, drawing with her mind instead of her hands (which she can't control since her accident).

Well, she's revealed what she is working on with Neuralink. She's learning to move and control a virtual hand on a computer screen, which I'm guessing will be changed over to an actual physical Optimus-style robot arm perhaps later this year.

I expect that it takes some practice to figure out how to do it, especially without any touch or proprioceptive feedback. I expect that future implants will be better in that regard.

https://x.com/NeuraNova9/status/2005708623562039686

This is Audrey (photo from Audrey Crews X account):

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[Syne]

I expect that it takes some practice to figure out how to do it, especially without any touch or proprioceptive feedback.

Not too difficult, if you're already an artist. I remember drawing with a mouse back when I was first introduced to computers. The skill is transferable.

[stryder]

I expect that it takes some practice to figure out how to do it, especially without any touch or proprioceptive feedback.

Not too difficult, if you're already an artist. I remember drawing with a mouse back when I was first introduced to computers. The skill is transferable.

It's really dependent on the tools you use. For instance if you draw with a pen, you have the dimension of it's nib, the muscle movements to articulate shape and form. When it comes down to an actual thought however on how to draw, while it makes sense to keep to what you are use to (thinking of a pen with a nib), it's possible to go beyond that since you've a full neural net at your disposal.

Straight forwards BCI's for the most part work on a feedback loop to see whether something is within the range, (Think of it a bit like a old fashioned lie detector test, where it marks things that don't give the wrong reaction as True and anything else as false). Coupled with advancements in AI it's possible to fill in the blanks a lot quicker.

The main problem with implants however is they can become dated. Take for instance a recent problem in the UK where Virgin Media was fined for failures with telecare migration from analogue to digital. While not specifically hardware, the changes made altered the method of delivery which in turn put people at risk.

I guess I'm implying that implants are difficult to scale with technological changes where the result would mean either disabling or having to go through surgery to get an upgrade.

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That being said, an interesting fictional hypothetical involving multiworlds.

Where a person in a multiversal state has implants applied to different parallels (creating a composite "nested" state).

This would lead to potentially networking multiple devices together through the multiversal state. (Think of like the brain acts in that instances as a cross over between the different parallels)

The problem however is that it would be extremely difficult to fix or debug parallels within such a setup. (In fact if it was done to someone, nobody else would likely be aware and it's not like the upgraded Wigners friend would have tech support to call. Most would likely just think they have an active imagination or suffer some psychiatric issue.)
)

[Yazata]

Elon says:

"Neuralink will start high-volume production of brain-computer interface devices and move to a streamlined, almost entirely automated surgical procedure in 2026.

Device threads will go through the dura, without the need to remove it. This is a big deal."

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2006513491105165411

Additionally, Neuralink has received FDA (US federal Food and Drug Administration) Breakthrough Device Designation for its speech restoration technology targeting severe speech impairments.

And talk is that Neuralink will implant the first of its very experimental prototype Blindsight vision implants sometime this year. Elon cautions not to expect too much at first, it will only provide crude images like old-time computer game graphics. I believe that it already has Breakthrough Device Designation for those.

What's more, Neuralink has raised an additional $650 million in a new funding round led by some of the more visionary tech venture capitalists including ARK Invest, Sequoia Capital and Founders Fund, valuing the company at approximately $9 billion.

A Neuralink photo of another of their implant patients operating a very early experimental prototype robot arm

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