Neuralink’s first patient seen playing chess

A recent live stream on X shows the first Neuralink patient using the technology to play chess.

In a nine-minute video live-streamed on the platform, Noland Arbaugh, the first patient to receive the Neuralink, is seen playing chess while explaining how he became quadriplegic.

Arbaugh, 29, told viewers that he was involved in a freak diving accident eight years ago, dislocating parts of his spine and paralyzing him from below the shoulders.

As mentioned briefly in the video, various research sessions have been conducted throughout the process, but Arbaugh has been using the technology to navigate certain areas of his daily life.

The video shows Arbaugh controlling the computer cursor with his brain as he solves problems in a game of chess.

A song is heard in the background of the video, which Arbaugh was able to pause using only his brain.

“It’s all brain power,” Arbaugh says.

Arbaugh explains that the process of learning how to move the cursor with his brain came from differentiating imagined movement from attempted movement.

One of the first times Arbaugh was given full control over the Neuralink, he explained that he stayed up until 6 a.m. playing the video game Civilization VI.

Having previously “given up on playing the game,” the Neuralink gave him the power to play again without worrying about pressure sores and other healthcare implications.

The neurotechnology company completed the first N1 implant robotic surgery on Sunday, January 28th.

The Neuralink is described as “a generalized brain interface (used) to restore autonomy to those with unmet medical needs today and unlock human potential tomorrow,” the website reads.

It’s a fully implantable, cosmetically invisible device “designed to let you control a computer or mobile device anywhere you go.”

Neuralink's technology bridges the gap between the brain and computers by encoding and decoding neural signals, facilitating communication with the outer digital world.

Elon Musk's Neuralink gained the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval for studying human brain implants.

Despite this approval, many are concerned about the implications this technology will have on humanity if it becomes mainstream.

Musk, who added that “the first Neuralink product is called Telepathy,” is hoping that the groundbreaking PRIME Study (short for Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface) will help paralyzed patients restore full mobility by allowing the individual to control bodily movements with only their thoughts via the wireless chip implant.