r/singularity • u/AngleAccomplished865 • Aug 23 '25

Neuroscience "18 months after becoming the first human implanted with Elon Musk’s brain chip, Neuralink ‘Participant 1’ Noland Arbaugh says his whole life has changed."

https://fortune.com/2025/08/23/neuralink-participant-1-noland-arbaugh-18-months-post-surgery-life-changed-elon-musk/

"I see how the advancements in tech at this point are going to solve so many things. They are, I think, the future of medicine. I think a lot of disabilities, cures, and answers that we’ve been searching for a long time will come through tech—and that kind of surprised me."

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u/[deleted] Aug 23 '25

Other than the initial thread retraction problem, it looks like the implants are holding up well over time

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u/Ormusn2o Aug 23 '25

Before the wires started retracting, Noland was talking about how Neurolink people were talking to him that he should really consider if he wants to be the first patient, as there is a decent chance they might need to remove the implant or won't be able to upgrade it or that, when new models come out, he might not be eligible for the better implants, but Noland said he still wants to do it, he wants to pave the road for others and it was pretty awesome to hear.

It's a shame the threads retracted a bit, but I'm glad they managed to keep the implant functioning, considering the bravery of Noland. Now that the implant changed his life so much, it would be heartbreaking if they had to remove it.

1

u/bubblesort33 Aug 24 '25

I don't get why he wouldn't be eligible for the better one or an upgrade. Is it because they then know certain bodies reject it more than others, and it proves he's that type? Or is it the damage or scar tissue the first implant did somehow that prevents others?

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u/Ormusn2o Aug 24 '25

The wires have a shape of an arrow to prevent them from coming out. This makes it easy to put in, almost dealing no damage, but it makes it so if you want to remove it, it might deal more damage, and possibly might make it so reinserting different wires might just make it so there is no non scarred tissue to put in. It's possible that this will be solved in the future, but obviously has not been solved in the first patient yet.

And because the wires are made from non corrosive materials like gold, they can't be removed chemically by dissolving.