Elon Musk’s Neuralink is looking for a second person to test its brain chip

Elon Musk's brain implant start-up, Neuralink, is now accepting applications for a second human trial participant to test its device.

“Neuralink is accepting applications for the second participant,” said Elon Musk in a tweeton Friday. “This is our Telepathy cybernetic brain implant that allows you to control your phone and computer just by thinking.”

This request comes five months after Neuralink implanted a brain chip into its first human trial participant, 30-year-old Noland Arbaugh. Just a week ago, the company disclosed that Arbaugh's implant had encountered an unexpected issue. The threads connecting the chip to his brain had retracted, causing performance problems. However, Neuralink reported making adjustments to improve the device's function.

Despite this, Arbaugh, who has been a quadriplegic since a diving accident in 2016, says the implant has significantly changed his life, allowing him to control a computer cursor with his brain.

The company is now enrolling trial patients who have "limited or no ability to use both hands due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)."