Just as we thought the world couldn’t be any weirder after 2020, we got more. Billionaire Elon Musk’s start-up Neuralink unveiled a pig with a coin-sized chip in its brain for two months. It hinted at the goal of curing human illnesses with similar implantation.
Launched in 2016, Neuralink promised to design tiny flexible ‘threads’ to treat brain injuries and trauma. They said these threads will be ten times thinner than human hair. Plus, Musk’s brain-computer start-up also aims to enable the synergy between artificial intelligence and humans. Plus, they are also trying to develop high-bandwidth brain implants to communicate with computers and phones.
With all these going on, Neuralink made another headline on 29th July 2021 by raising $205 million from investors. According to sources, Musk’s companies investors include OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google ventures, Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, etc.
This happened after the brain chip company raised $51 million two years back. According to Crunchbase, the start-up tracker, Neuralink’s total investment now stands at $363 million. Vy Capital, a Dubai-based venture capital, conducted the Series C funding round along with Valor Equity Partners, Craft Ventures, Gigafund, and as mentioned before.
Neuralink revealed that a group of leading entrepreneurs and executives will be joining the funding round too. Some of the most important names include:
- Blake Byers from Byers Capital
- Robert Nelson, from Arch Venture Partners
- Fred Ehrsam from Paradigm and Coinbase
- Sam Altman from OpenAI and YC Group
- Ken Howery from Founders Fund and PayPal
So, What Is Neuralink Up To?
Neuralink spent the last four years creating the first brain-machine interface intended for therapeutic use in patients. The N1 Link, their first product, is actually a 1024 channel device. It is invisible after implantation and transfers the data through a wireless connection.
This device aims at helping users to interact with their phones and computers in a naturalistic way. The funds collected from the Series C round will take Neuralink’s first product to market and hurry the development of future products.
With Neuralink’s mission to develop brain-machine interfaces, AI is going to get smarter. Previously, Musk has said that –
“With a direct neural interface, we can improve your cortex and your digital tertiary layer’s bandwidth by 1000 or even 10000 times.”
The futuristic entrepreneur has also claimed Neuralink can reach unimaginable heights. For example, it could allow us to exchange thoughts and concepts with each other via the brain chip. It will take telepathy to the whole next level and all those concepts will be saved in the chip. After people die, that chip can be implanted into another human or a robot. Witnessing such a sci-fi territory will be worth all the wait.
