Elon Musk Says Neuralink Has Implanted Brain Chip in Human

Elon Musk said that the first human received a Neuralink brain implant, a potential milestone in the development of “brain-computer interface” technology that could one day help those suffering from debilitating conditions such as paralysis to interact with their surroundings.

Musk tweeted late Monday that the patient received the implant the prior day and is “recovering well,” suggesting that the surgery was completed successfully and that there were no serious technical problems. Musk didn’t disclose details about the patient. When Neuralink announced last September that it was recruiting a trial participant it said it was looking for someone suffering from quadriplegia.

Musk added that initial results show promising “neuron spike detection,” suggesting further that the Neuralink device is detecting signals from individual neurons inside the brain, a potential advance that could decode higher-quality brain signals. Musk didn’t say how many neurons the company’s device is detecting.

Write to Rolfe Winkler at Rolfe.Winkler@wsj.com