SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 28, 2026, 11:26 (PST)
- Neuralink says 21 participants are enrolled in human trials of its brain implant worldwide
- Company previously said 12 people had received the implant and were using it to control tools through thought
- Neuralink says it has recorded zero serious device-related adverse events so far
Elon Musk’s brain implant company Neuralink said on Wednesday it now has 21 participants enrolled in trials worldwide, two years after it began testing its device on humans. That is up from 12 people the company said in September had received its chips and were using them to control digital and physical tools through thought. Neuralink said the implant is meant for people with conditions such as spinal cord injury and that it has recorded no serious device-related adverse events so far, adding that expanding trials should help it “better understand these variations” and improve its hardware and procedure. (Reuters)
The new figure matters because it is one of the few hard numbers Neuralink has released as it tries to turn a closely watched experiment into a broader clinical program. A larger trial pool can help firms spot patterns in safety and performance that do not show up in early, single-digit studies.
It also lands as implantable brain-computer interfaces move from lab demos toward real-world use by people with paralysis, a shift that brings heavier regulatory scrutiny. The promise is simple to describe and hard to execute: read brain signals reliably, day after day, and turn them into useful control of a computer or device.
Neuralink marked the two-year point with a blog post titled “Two Years of Telepathy,” describing Telepathy as its first product and saying it aims to let people with paralysis directly control computers, phones and robotic limbs using their thoughts. (Neuralink)
Musk has framed 2026 as a scale-up year. In a Dec. 31 post on X, he wrote Neuralink would start “high-volume production” of its brain-computer interface devices and move to an entirely automated surgical procedure in 2026. Reuters has reported that the first patient has used the implant to play video games, browse the internet, post on social media and move a cursor on a laptop. (Reuters)
A brain-computer interface, or BCI, is a system that captures signals from the brain and translates them into commands, such as moving a cursor or selecting letters on a screen. Neuralink’s approach uses an implanted device, which typically raises the stakes on safety, durability and how easily the system can be updated or removed.
But the technology is still young, and setbacks are part of the landscape. In May 2024, Neuralink said tiny wires implanted in its first patient had pulled out of position, and a Wall Street Journal report said the company planned to address the issue by embedding some wires deeper into the brain after the FDA cleared implantation in a second patient. (Reuters)
Neuralink is not alone in the race. Synchron, a Brooklyn-based rival, has pitched a less invasive route that implants a small electrode array into a blood vessel in the brain, and CEO Tom Oxley told TIME, “It’s transformative that there’s now a potential therapy to overcome a broken nervous system.” (TIME)
Other groups are pushing for higher-bandwidth implants aimed at restoring speech and communication. Paradromics said in November that the FDA approved its first long-term clinical trial, with plans to implant two volunteers early this year in a study focused on safety and real-time speech restoration, Nature reported. (Nature)
For Neuralink, the next question is whether a bigger participant count translates into clean, consistent results over time. The company’s claim of no serious device-related adverse events will be watched closely as more sites and patients enter the program, and as rivals try to turn their own trials into scalable products.
