Elon Musk's Neuralink Rival Paradromics Gears Up For Human Trials Of Brain Implant

Neurotech startup Paradromics is gearing up to conduct human trials of its brain implant in the coming year, marking its entry into the competitive brain-computer interface (BCI) market where Elon Musk’s Neuralink is dominating the headlines.

What Happened: Paradromics’ upcoming trial follows a similar procedure carried out by its competitor, Neuralink, earlier this year, CNBC reported on Friday. The brain implant developed by Paradromics aims to interact with multiple neurons at once, facilitating high-speed, high-data-rate communication.

Paradromics has managed to secure $87 million in venture investment and $18 million in public funding since its establishment in 2015. The Austin-based startup anticipates the devices to be priced at around $100,000 each.

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Paradromics’ primary goal is to convert untreatable brain health conditions into solvable technology problems, according to CEO Matt Angle. Initially, the startup will target patients who have lost their ability to communicate due to conditions such as paralysis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or spinal injury. The device will be wirelessly powered and will not require charging.

Angle expects to receive commercial approval to sell the product by 2029 at the earliest. He predicts that the first million users of brain-computer interfaces will be those treating severe medical conditions.

Why It Matters: This development comes in the wake of Neuralink’s efforts to merge human brains with Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), a move that has been both lauded for its revolutionary potential and criticized for the major risks it may pose in the future.

Neuralink’s first human recipient, Noland Arbaugh, is preparing to receive a second brain-computer interface implant, allowing both hemispheres of his brain to interact telepathically with his computer.

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Photo by Shuttershock

This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Pooja Rajkumari