Free Republic

For Elon Musk, giving sight to the blind isn't just a first century phenomenon. The Tesla and X CEO brain implant venture, Neuralink, filed trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on March 3 for "Telepathy," "Telekinesis," and "Blindsight," hinting at a future where human thought could transcend traditional communication and control. The company, co-founded by Musk in 2016, is developing a brain-computer interface (BCI), a system that decodes neural signals to operate external devices. Musk has touted telepathy as Neuralink’s first product, designed to empower people with paralysis to "control a computer or phone just...

Neuralink posted a livestream on X featuring Noland Arbaugh, the first person to use Neuralink's technology that enables control of a computer via thought. In the video on Wednesday, Arbaugh said that he is 29 years old and noted that he is paralyzed below his shoulders due to a "diving accident" around 8 years ago. He demonstrated his ability to move the cursor on the computer screen and play chess using the Neuralink technology. And at the request of the Neuralink engineer who was also on the video, Arbaugh paused music that had been playing. In an apparent reference to...