---
title: "Neuralink May Start Human Implants Later This Year, Elon Musk Says"
description: "Elon Musk hinted on Twitter that his neural implant company Neuralink may be able to start human research at some point this year."
date: "2021-02-04"
modified: "2021-02-04"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/neuralink-may-start-human-implants-later-this-year-elon-musk-says"
categories:
  - "Elon Musk"
  - "Future Society"
  - "Health & Medicine"
  - "Prosthetics and Devices"
  - "The Industrialists"
tags:
  - "elon musk"
  - "neuralink"
  - "neuroscience"
---

# Neuralink May Start Human Implants Later This Year, Elon Musk Says

![Elon Musk hinted on Twitter that his neural implant company Neuralink may be able to start human research at some point this year.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/neuralink-may-start-human-implants-later-this-year-elon-musk-says.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Neuralink\</em\>*

Elon Musk's mysterious neural implant company Neuralink might be ready to experiment on human brains as soon as later this year.

The update comes from Musk, who [tweeted on Monday](<https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1356375980344893443>) that Neuralink was working closely with the FDA, the governmental agency that regulates and approves new pharmaceuticals and medical devices, to push its research forward.

While it's not clear what that regulatory work has looked like, it will be interesting to see what Neuralink comes up with, especially given the large rift between [Musk's lofty promises](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-neuralink-stream-music-brians>) for the tech and its [underwhelming first demo](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/neuroscientist-problem-neuralink-demo>) last year.

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/musk-neuralink.png>)

Since launching Neuralink, Elon Musk has opined that the implant will be able to [stream music](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-neuralink-stream-music-brians>) directly to people's brains and [connect the human mind](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/neuralink-suicide-human-mind>) to powerful computers.

Most recently, [he said that a Neuralink-implanted monkey](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-neuralink-monkey-video-games-mind>) was already using the device to play video games, which is a far more grounded claim to make.

But the reality has, so far, fallen short of expectations. [Neuroscientists were unimpressed](<https://futurism.com/neuralink-demo-impress-experts>) by Neuralink's August demonstration. Plus, this [isn't the first time](<https://futurism.com/elon-musk-neuralink-human-brain-implant>) that Musk suggested that human research was coming soon.

That said, many [remain extremely excited](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/people-begging-elon-musk-skull>) for Neuralink's prospects, especially since one of Musk's promises was that the device would be able to cure a [wide variety of diseases](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/elon-musk-neuralink-solve-autism-schizophrenia>).

As a result, lots of people on the internet — including the person Musk [replied to on Twitter](<https://twitter.com/hamoon__/status/1355920405534564357>) on Monday — have offered themselves up as research subjects in hopes that Neuralink might be able to help them live a better life.

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)