American entrepreneur Elon Musk spoke on a podcast with YouTube host Lex Friedman about progress in Neuralink trials. A clip related to the discussion has been published for viewers to watch. The conversation touched on the status of the second participant who has received a Neuralink implant and is showing promising signals from the device.
During the talk, Musk cautioned against premature celebration but indicated that the implant appeared to be performing well, capturing a large number of neural signals. He noted that the device contains a substantial array of electrodes and was functioning with strong effectiveness in this early stage. The discussion highlighted the computational capacity of the implant and its ability to translate brain activity into usable control signals.
Reports from the conversation indicate that around 400 electrodes are actively recording in the patient’s brain. Earlier comments by Nolan Arbaugh, the first person to receive the Neuralink chip, described ongoing improvements in device performance even as a portion of electrodes moved away from targeted brain tissue. Arbaugh indicated that approximately 15 percent of the electrodes remained functional, while he remained hopeful that later participants could achieve much higher levels of electrode activity, potentially reaching 90 to 100 percent functionality and unlocking new therapeutic possibilities.
The company plans to expand the trial so that ten participants receive implants by year end. In a previous announcement, Neuralink identified Nolan Arbaugh, a 29-year-old individual who had become paralyzed due to a spinal cord injury, as the first recipient of the brain implant. The device is placed in the brain region responsible for motor activity and is linked to a wireless interface that reads neural signals. These signals are transmitted to a computer system, enabling control of devices through thought alone.
The technology is intended to assist people who have lost motor function by restoring some degree of voluntary movement or control. Musk has suggested plans to add another participant to the trial in the near term, marking continued progress toward broader clinical applicability.
In related remarks, a former American journalist observed that Musk has a tendency to shift into what is described as a more intense, “devil mode” during these updates, a characterization that reflects his high-energy communication style in public discussions. Long-term assessments emphasize ongoing evaluation of safety, reliability, and real-world utility as the research advances.