In a blog post on Wednesday, Neuralink, the brain-computer interface startup founded by Elon Musk, revealed that its first invasive brain chip implant has encountered a malfunction. The participant's brain is said to have experienced displacement of the neuron-surveilling threads embedded by Neuralink.

The exact cause of the displacement remains unclear, as does the number of threads that have become retracted and whether it poses any safety risks. Neuralink has yet to comment on the matter. The company noted in their blog post that the issue arose in late February. However, they have been able to compensate to some extent by modifying their algorithm to counteract the lost data.

Neuralink's implant, touted as the first of its kind, consists of 64 flexible threads, each housing 1,024 electrodes designed to detect neuronal activity. These threads, thinner than a human hair, are carefully inserted into the brain by Neuralink's proprietary surgical robot. The goal is to place them in close proximity to the neurons of interest, allowing the electrodes to capture signals that can be decoded into intended actions, such as controlling a computer cursor.

The initial clinical trial participant who received the implant was 29-year-old Noland Arbaugh, who became quadriplegic following a diving accident in 2016. The surgery took place at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix on January 28. Elon Musk announced on social media the following day that Arbaugh was recovering well and that the initial results were promising.

Since then, Neuralink and Arbaugh have demonstrated the capabilities of the implant, showcasing videos and livestreams of Arbaugh playing video games and controlling characters in Mario Kart using only the brain-computer interface. However, a subtle hint of trouble emerged on March 1 during an all-hands meeting with Neuralink, where Arbaugh acknowledged that they were still working out some kinks.

The Wall Street Journal was the first to report that an undisclosed number of threads had become displaced in Arbaugh's brain. Neuralink subsequently confirmed the issue through their blog post. The cause of the displacement remains speculative, with sources suggesting the possibility of trapped air within Arbaugh's skull after the surgery, known as pneumocephalus. The option of removing the implant was reportedly considered once the problem was identified.

Despite the displacement, Arbaugh's safety does not appear to have been compromised. However, the retraction of threads has affected his bits-per-second (BPS) rate, which measures the speed and accuracy of a patient's control over a computer cursor with the implant. Neuralink was able to restore the BPS rate to its pre-retraction level by modifying the algorithm that decodes electrode signals. These modifications included enhancing the implant's sensitivity to neural population signals, improving techniques for translating signals into cursor movements, and enhancing the user interface.

The Journal also reported that Neuralink has informed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the regulatory body overseeing clinical trials, about the issue and believes it has identified fixes. The company intends to proceed with two more implantations in the near future, aiming for a total of 10 this year.

Despite this setback, Neuralink remains committed to advancing the frontier of brain-computer interfaces, aiming to create groundbreaking technology that can potentially revolutionize the lives of individuals with neurological conditions.