Musk: Neuralink Brain Implant to Cost Around $5,000 with 10-Minute Robotic Surgery

Recently, the 2024 Neurosurgeons Conference revealed insights previously shared by Tesla CEO Elon Musk during his attendance. Musk discussed his perspectives on Neuralink, his brain-computer interface company, and brain-computer interface technology, emphasizing that these devices “should not be prohibitively expensive.”

He pointed out that the vast majority of diseases or brain problems could be addressed through Neuralink’s brain-computer interface. “If you imagine the brain as a computer, a circuit board, or something similar, suppose you are given a circuit board that has some short circuits, is missing certain circuits that should be present, or includes circuits that should not be there—we can fix all these issues.”

In terms of the device’s price, Musk mentioned that brain-computer interfaces would cost approximately $5,000 to $10,000 after mass production; with large-scale manufacturing, the price of these implants could become comparable to that of an Apple Watch or a smartphone, ranging from about $1,000 to $2,000.

Regarding the total cost, including surgical and equipment fees, Musk believes that the final price could be around $5,000, similar to laser vision correction surgery.

“If we use a robot for the implantation, the surgical procedure should be very rapid,” he said. “We do have a plan of action.”

Musk also elaborated on his proposed “600-Second Surgery” plan. According to his vision, the procedure will be automated: patients will simply sit in a chair while robots perform the surgical operation, completing the implantation of the device within 10 minutes.

“We are not violating the principles of physics. Just like laser eye surgery, we use lasers to perform a series of procedures on your eyeball,” Musk emphasized.

Prominent Tesla investor Sawyer Merritt shared a video of Musk’s remarks on X, to which Musk responded with a simple “Yes.”

Neuralink, founded in 2016, primarily focuses on brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), aiming to achieve "human-brain-machine interaction" by developing implantable devices. Since its inception, the company has secured multiple rounds of funding. According to foreign media reports, Neuralink's valuation had already exceeded $5 billion by June 2023.

Neuralink’s official website has currently disclosed progress on two brain-computer interface (BCI) implant surgeries. On January 29, Noland Arbaugh, the first human patient, received a Neuralink implant. On August 21, Neuralink announced that the second participant who received the BCI implant was recovering well and had begun learning to use computer-aided design (CAD) software for 3D modeling.

Musk previously projected that Neuralink would complete clinical trials involving brain-computer interface implants in a total of 10 patients this year, and 1,000 patients in 2026.

This article is reprinted from The Paper; reporter: Wu Yuli. If there is any infringement, please inform us to delete it.

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