Elon Musk claims he has ‘a monkey with a brain implant that can play video games with his mind’

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Elon Musk last night claimed he has put a Neuralink implant in a monkey’s brain and that the animal can play video games ‘with his mind’ in a wide-ranging online question and answer session.

The CEO said the monkey is ‘totally happy’ and the effort is part of his ‘brain tech’ start-up firm Neuralink which he hopes will eventually be able to help humans with brain and spinal injuries.

In a Q&A on Clubhouse, a private social app, Musk claimed the implant builds a digital link between the brain and a computer, describing it as ‘like a fitbit for the skull’.  

As he was peppered with questions by the audience of 5,000, Musk also said: 

• He wants to put humans on Mars in five-and-a-half years, but admitted it would be ‘very dangerous and hard work’
• Bitcoin is ‘on the verge’ of being more widely accepted among investors as he expressed his support for the cryptocurrency
• He has seen no ‘conclusive evidence’ that aliens exist but it’s ‘quite possible’
• His boosting of online currency Dogecoin is intended as a joke
• His children ‘are mostly educated through YouTube and Reddit’

The billionaire inventor also claimed humans will be visiting Mars in five-and-a-half years, but admitted it would be ‘very dangerous’ as there ‘are far more ways to die out there than there are in Earth’.

Musk added that Bitcoin is ‘on the verge’ of being more widely accepted among investors as he expressed his support for the cryptocurrency. 

Musk, who has invested $100 million in Neuralink, claimed the start-up has a ‘monkey facility’ where one monkey has a ‘wireless implant’ in its skull. 

He said: ‘We’ve already got a monkey with a wireless implant in their skull and the tiny wires who can play video games using his mind.

‘He’s totally happy. He does not look like an unhappy monkey,’ he added. ‘He’s not uncomfortable and he doesn’t look weird.

‘We’re trying to work out if we can get the monkeys to play mind pong with each other, you know that would be pretty cool.’ 

Musk also claimed that when a US Department of Agriculture official came to inspect their monkey facilities, she was mightily impressed. 

‘When the USDA person came through and inspected our facilities, our monkey facilities, she said it was like the nicest monkey facilities she’s ever seen in her career,’ he said. ‘We went the extra mile for the monkeys.’  

Musk has been no stranger to using animals in his scientific experiments. In August last year, he said Neuralink had implanted a computer-chip in the brain of a pig called Gertrude. 

He said in the short-term, Neuralink would be able to address brain injuries and spinal injuries.

‘It would make up for whatever lost capacity somebody has with an implanted chip,’ he said. ‘So the first thing we are going after is a wireless implanted chip that would enable someone who [has a brain injury or spinal injury] to control a computer or mouse or phone or really any device just by thinking. 

‘And this would of course be a massive enabler and make life easier for them. 

‘There have been primitive versions of the device with wires sticking out of your head but it doesn’t work all the time and you can’t take it home with you.

‘In simple terms, its sort of like a fitbit in your skull with tiny wires that go to your brain.’ 

Musk also claimed his team have already tested the implantation, removal and re-implantation of the brain chip. 

He said: ‘We are really focused on the ability to remove the implant if somebody doesn’t want it or it’s not working. We can take it out and we can re-implant another one.’ 

He revealed early applications for the chip would be for people who have a serious injury but admitted that while the value of the implant is ‘enormous’, there is serious risk involved.   

Musk also spoke about his plans to land humans on Mars in ‘five-and-a-half years’.   

He said: ‘It’s going to be very dangerous. People are like, oh is this some kind of escape hatch for rich people. 

‘No it will be dangerous, hard work. There are far more ways to die out there than there are in Earth. 

‘But I think it will be fun and a great adventure. But it will not be a luxurious thing, that’s for sure. Not for some time.’ 

Musk’s private SpaceX rocket recently took fee-paying astronauts to the International Space Station. 

The inventor said that he would be ‘ok’ with his six children traveling to Mars if it ‘was the third or fourth landing’. But he revealed his children have never expressed an interest to go.

He said: ‘So far none of them say they want to go. They may change their minds but currently they are not chomping at the bit to go to Mars.’

Musk also spoke about his support for Bitcoin and said he believed it was ‘on the verge’ of being more widely accepted among investors. 

The comments come after the Tesla Inc CEO’s use of a ‘#bitcoin’ tag on his Twitter profile page led to a 14 per cent jump in the cryptocurrency on Friday.

‘I am a supporter of bitcoin,’ Musk said. ‘I think bitcoin is on the verge of getting broad acceptance by conventional finance people,’ he said, adding he should have bought it eight years ago.

‘I was a little slow on the uptake … I do think at this point that bitcoin is a good thing.’

Bitcoin was up two per cent at $33,796 on Monday, having surged over 300 per cent in 2020.

Just hours before changing his Twitter profile page to include bitcoin, Musk had also tweeted an image of a dog on a magazine cover, sparking speculation he had invested in the cyptocurrency Dogecoin. 

It led to a surge in Dogecoin’s price – jumping a staggering 420 per cent to $0.079.

Speaking further about Dogecoin, Musk last night said: ‘Occasionally I make jokes about Dogecoin. But they really are just meant to be jokes.’

‘Dogecoin was made as a joke to make fun of cryptocurrencies obviously, but fate loves irony.

‘Arguably the most entertaining and ironic outcome would be that Dodgecoin becomes the currency of the Earth and the future.’ 

When asked about whether he believed aliens existed, he said he has not seen anything to indicate their is another civilization or beings in Space. 

‘I’m pretty sure I would have known about it and I’ve seen nothing to indicate that there is any civilisation whatsoever.  

‘There is] not a single piece of conclusive evidence – that doesn’t mean there aren’t aliens.

‘I’m just literally saying I’ve seen nothing that could not be explained by other means.’ 

Musk also revealed that his children are mostly educated via Youtube and Reddit. 

‘My kids were mostly educated by Youtube and Reddit,’ he said. ‘And I guess their classmates and lessons as well but judging by the amount of time they spent online, it seems like most of their education is actually coming from online.

‘I think generally with education you want to make it as interesting and exciting as possible.’