Elon Musk gave an update on Blindsight, the second product of brain-computer interface company Neuralink. He said the implant will "enable even those who are completely blind or have never seen to see", and that it is already "ready from an engineering standpoint" and "just waiting on regulatory approval", Tom's Hardware reports.
Most brain-computer interfaces today translate brain signals into control of external devices. Blindsight works in the other direction: a camera captures images and the signals are converted into stimulation the brain can interpret, creating an artificial visual pathway. Cochlear implants and sensory neuroprosthetics already send signals from sensors into the nervous system.
Neuralink was founded in 2016 and began human trials in 2024. Its first product, Telepathy, lets users control a computer by thought. The company has not published a timeline for approval, and there is no public data on the quality of vision the implant provides in humans. Other companies, including Meta and China's NeuroXess, are also developing brain-computer interfaces.