Elon Musk has revealed that his Neuralink startup has implanted a wireless chip into a monkeys brain in order to allow it to play video games.

The technology billionaire, who also heads SpaceX and Tesla, said the monkey looks totally happy and that Neuralinks facilities meet US regulatory requirements.

Speaking during a Q&A session on the Clubhouse app, Mr Musk said the startup had moved beyond experiments on pigs and onto monkeys.

Weve already got like a monkey with a wireless implant in their skull and the tiny wires, who can play video games using his mind. And he looks totally happy. He does not look like an unhappy monkey," Mr Musk said.

You cant even see where the neural implant was put in. Hes not uncomfortable and he doesnt look weird.

Mr Musk added that an inspector with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) described Neuralinks laboratory as the nicest monkey facilities" that they had ever seen. A spokesperson for the agency was not immediately available for comment.

We went the extra mile for the monkeys, Mr Musk said. One of the things were trying to figure out [is] can we have the monkeys playing mind Pong with each other? That would be pretty cool.

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The brain-machine interface startup, which Mr Musk foudned in 2016, is eventually hoping to implant chips into human brains to provide a high-bandwidth link between humans and computers.

The Neuralink device is the size of a coin and can be implanted into the skull

(Neuralink)

In the short term, Neuralink plans to use its wireless chips to treat brain disorders and diseases.

But longer-term goals for the startup are far more ambitious, ranging from the human-AI symbiosis concept, to something the CEO refers to as conceptual telepathy.

This would involve humans thinking about a complex series of concepts and then transferring them directly, uncompressed, to another person.

This would massively improve the quality of communication, and the speed of it, Mr Musk said,

There are other pretty wild things that could be done, he continued. You could probably save state in the brain. So if you were to die your state could be returned in the form of another human body or a robot body You could decide if you want to be a robot or a person or whatever.

A robot designed by Neuralink would insert the 'threads' into the brain using a needle

Neuralink

A fully implantable neural interface connects to the brain through tiny threads

Neuralink

Trials of Neuralink's fully implantable neural interface system will begin in 2021

Neuralink

Neuralink says learning to use the device is 'like learning to touch type or play the piano'

Neuralink

There were some caveats to the futuristic technology, with any downloading or transferring of consciousness potentially resulting in some loss of memory or sense of self.

You wouldnt be exactly the same, thered be a little lost in transfer But its also true that if you wake up today, youre not exactly the same as you were yesterday, Mr Musk said.

There could be something analogous to a video game, like a save game situation, where you are able to upload your last state Maybe lose a few memories but mostly be you.

During a demonstration of the technology last August, Mr Musk also said that Neuralinks wireless chips could solve blindness solve paralysis [and] solve hearing, while simultaneously allowing humans to compete with advanced artificial intelligence.

Neuralink released a video on Saturday of a robot capable of surgically implanting the brain chips into humans, and Mr Musk said more details would be announced about the startups progress next month.

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Elon Musk says he has totally happy monkey with brain chip so it can play video games using its mind - The Independent