Visionary billionaire Elon Musk congratulated the Neuralink team on Wednesday for advancing its flagship brain-computer interface (BCI) product, dubbed ‘Telepathy,’ which has now assisted multiple individuals in regaining access to digital devices despite their severe physical impairments.
‘Congrats to the @Neuralink team for helping many people who have lost use of their body with our Telepathy implant that enables computer use simply by thinking!’ he wrote, quoting a Neuralink update that revealed 21 participants (‘Neuralnauts’) are now enrolled in clinical trials worldwide.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Mr. Musk highlighted the implant’s core achievement. It enables users to control computers and communicate simply by thinking, without relying on physical movement.
The milestone comes roughly two years after Neuralink first introduced the Telepathy branding in early 2024, when the company described it as a ‘cybernetic brain implant that allows you to control your phone and computer just by thinking.’
Early demonstrations featured trial participant Noland Arbaugh (known online as @ModdedQuad), a quadriplegic individual who showcased playing video games and navigating applications purely through thought.
Neuralink’s latest update, shared alongside Mr. Musk’s comment, links to a detailed recap titled ‘Two Years of Telepathy,’ detailing the steady progress in restoring autonomy for those with conditions such as quadriplegia or ALS that sever the brain’s connection to the body.
Looking ahead, Mr. Musk signaled accelerated innovation on the horizon by confirming that a next-generation version of the implant, offering “3X capability, is slated for release later in 2026. While specifics on the performance boost remain under wraps, the announcement aligns with Neuralink’s broader push toward scalability.
Earlier this month, Mr. Musk said the company would transition to high-volume production of BCI devices in 2026, incorporating a more automated surgical procedure that threads electrodes through the dura mater without removing it, a technical leap expected to make implantation faster and more accessible.
Neuranlink to assist the Blind
Mr. Musk also teased another major product in the pipeline: Blindsight, a vision-restoration implant. ‘Pending regulatory approval, we are also ready to do our first Blindsight augment that will enable those who have even a complete loss of vision to see in low resolution at first, leading to high resolution over time,’ he noted. This follows years of speculation that Neuralink’s visual cortex interfacing could one day surpass natural human vision, starting from low-fidelity ‘computer graphics’- like output.
The rapid enrollment growth from a handful of participants in 2024 to 21 across global sites reflects increasing confidence in the technology’s safety and efficacy during human trials. Neuralink reportedly recruits individuals with conditions like quadriplegia, emphasizing its mission to restore lost functions while laying the groundwork for future human augmentation.
As regulatory bodies evaluate expanded trials and eventual commercialization, Neuralink’s trajectory suggests brain-machine interfaces could move from experimental therapy to a more widespread tool for medical restoration and potentially beyond in the coming years.