Elon Musk Says a Neuralink Update Is Coming on Halloween

If you’re spooked by the idea of implants directly inserted in the brain to allow humans to communicate directly with computers, then Elon Musk is planning a Halloween trick direct from your nightmares. 

The billionaire entrepreneur tweeted Monday that a “progress update show & tell” will take place Oct. 31 for his brain-computer interface company Neuralink. 

Neuralink demonstrations in 2020 and 2021 have shown the technology at work with pigs and monkeys.   

Musk’s tweet follows a report on Friday from Reuters that he’s frustrated with the rate of progress at the company. The report also states that Musk approached New York-based Synchron, which is developing a less invasive implant, about a potential investment deal. 

Neuralink didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. A representative for Synchron declined to comment.

Musk started Neuralink in 2016 with the goal of creating an implantable device that would allow humans to directly interact with computers via the brain rather than traditional, slower input devices like touch screens, keyboards or even voice assistants. He has pitched the project as a means of helping humanity keep up with advances in artificial intelligence, but more recently the focus has been on creating a device to help restore capabilities to people with disabilities.

In May, Synchron beat Neuralink to become the first company to implant a brain-computer interface in the United States, something Musk said last year that he hoped his company would accomplish in 2022.

Synchron’s first device is called the Stentrode, designed for patients with paralysis to be able to wirelessly control digital devices through thought. The company’s mission makes no mentions of keeping up with artificial intelligence.