What happens when you combine the expensive disappointment of bipedal robots with the ethical minefield of brain interface devices? Apparently we’re about to find out, at least according to Neuralink’s Head of Surgery, Danish Hussain.
In a post on X-formerly-Twitter, Hussain fretted that “so many people think [N]euralink is some evil megacorp” when actually it’s “literally just out here helping the homies eat pretzels lol.”
Hussain’s post referenced a video uploaded by another Neuralink staffer, which they claimed showed a man operating a slow robotic arm “all via telepathy.”
Speculating in the comments, one fanboy posed a question about Optimus, Elon Musk’s other pie-in-the-sky tech fantasy: “why not have optimus v2 there training already?? Could help both companies.”
“We’re starting simple, but this will happen very soon!” Hussain responded.
No more details have been shared, and it remains unclear how a human-to-robot interface might even work. Tesla’s Optimus is an absolute mess, struggling to answer in complete sentences and walking in a stunted shuffle, let alone interfacing with a human brain.
Musk has long relied on vague and buzzy promises like this to boost the short-term value of his companies. For Tesla, which is reeling from one of the most disastrous years in history, Musk recently promised that Optimus robots would make up “80 percent” of the company’s value.
For its part, Neuralink has now implanted its tech in 12 human test subjects. Results have sometimes varied; the company’s first patient, Noland Arbaugh, reported that his device “didn’t work so well anymore” after only a few months of use.
So while Hussain sounds like he wants nothing but the best for Neuralink’s patients, we’re not exactly holding our breath for a brain interface that can flawlessly control humanoid robots. At least not Elon Musk’s.
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