Billionaire Elon Musk announced on Tuesday that his company Neuralink successfully implanted its first computer chip into a human brain.
In a statement on X, Musk said the person who received the brain chip is recovering well and that “initial results show promising neuron spike detection.”
While there’s no proof it actually happened (and Musk has been known to fake major announcements), people online nevertheless are reacting to the breakthrough with mixed emotions, ranging from shock and amazement to outright horror.
The term Neuralink quickly became a trending topic on X, where users shared their thoughts on Musk’s announcement.
In one viral post, Musk’s statement was hilariously compared to the text of an audio log that one would expect to find in a sci-fi horror game.
Many pointed to the fact that some of the monkeys that were used to initially trial the brain chip had to be euthanized after experiencing devastating side effects, a claim Musk disputes.
“Reminder that the majority of all documented primate subjects of Neuralink trials died in agony,” another wrote.
Musk has claimed that the brain chip will allow users to control devices such as phones or computers with their thoughts. Neuralink shared a demo in late 2022 that purported to show a monkey with the brain chip playing the computer game Pong with its mind.
Yet given Musk’s long history of failed predictions regarding his companies, many remained skeptical.
“Elon Musk says the first patient to receive a brain-chip from his company Neuralink is showing promising results, which by his standards means they haven’t exploded or caught fire,” one user joked.
Musk supporters, on the other hand, praised the billionaire’s announcement as a necessary breakthrough for the future of the human raise.
“A lot of people think this is crazy, but Neuralink is the only way forward for mankind if we are to catch up with the advent of AGI and rein it in,” Musk fanboy Ian Miles Cheong wrote. “We do not want to be at the mercy of machine intelligence.”
The majority of responses, however, appeared to troll Neuralink and Musk, including one from a user who went as far as to apply fake blood to his forehead while pretending to have received the chip.
“as tha first @neuralink patien i muss say things r going well!1! Cann only eat solid$ until next year (2028), butt feel fresh and ready 4 life!! thanks Father..!1!” one user wrote alongside a photograph
Although Musk is being praised as an innovator, the BBC notes that a company in Utah was able to implant a brain chip into a human back in 2004.
The long-term health effects of having Neuralink’s computer chip implanted into a human brain remain unknown.
