Elon Musk Wants To Wire Your Brain

Last year Tesla CEO Elon Musk was given a lucrative new compensation plan, with the catch being that he would only get his bonus if he helped the company reach some pretty high financial goals. The thinking was this package was meant to keep our IRL Tony Stark focused on, like, cars and stuff instead of trying to colonize mars. But Elon gonna Elon, and so of course he now wants to help connect your brain directly to the internet. What? Musk has invested $100 million in Neuralink, a neuroscience company that recently unveiled a “sewing machine-like” robot that can implant ultrathin threads deep into the brain. This would, potentially, allow for ultra-swift communication between humans and machines, and would let the brain process vast amounts of information. Though everyone admits that we’re a long way from everyone living in a William Gibson novel, Neuralink, which likens the process to getting Lasik surgery, hopes to begin testing on humans next year. Mechanical Animals As odd as this sounds, Neuralink might be onto something, as they did a demonstration in which a linked up laboratory rat read information from 1,500 electrodes — 15 times greater than current systems embedded in humans. But scientists cautioned that results from laboratory animals might not translate into human success. In Other News There’s never a dull moment at Tesla, apparently. The company finally achieved its longtime goal of lowering the price of its best-selling Model 3, while also quietly phasing out versions. Speaking of Model 3, news broke today that in the effort to ramp up production of the popular model, some employees say they resorted to using electrical tape to quickly repair cracks and worked through extreme heat, cold and wild-fire smoke. A spokesperson for Tesla denied the charges. -Michael Tedder Photo: Mike Blake / REUTERS