Prediction Not checkable as stated
Arbaugh: Consumer products will require Neuralink compatibility to sell
“And so one day I think everything is gonna be, like, neural link compatible. Like, companies will have to put that in their product in order for it to sell. If it's not neural link compatible, people will be like, well, why, why are we even using this?”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Arbaugh: Neuralink can execute movements before user consciously decides to move
“So sometimes when I want to say click or I want to move, the implant will Understand my intent and move before I even decide to move, basically.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Arbaugh predicts esports leagues will ban or segregate Neuralink users
“I don't believe It will be allowed in like certain gaming platforms and things for like major league gaming. I think they're going to have to separate it. Either everyone's going to have to have one, or you're going to have to understand that other people have…”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Arbaugh: People will get neural implants to surpass unenhanced human capabilities
“So it's not there yet, but I know that when this technology like really lands and they get everything figured out, yeah, it's, there, there's no doubt in my mind that people will want it in order to surpass, you know, what regulars are capable of.”
Disclosure
Arbaugh Says He Would Absolutely Merge His Brain With AI
“Yeah, I'd absolutely do it.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Arbaugh Says His Neuralink Brain Implant Is Hackable via Bluetooth
“The device, my device is hackable. You'd have to find some way in, like through a Bluetooth signal, and you would be able to maybe control my cursor on a screen to be able to hack my neuron spikes in the brain signals and maybe, like, decode that to see what I…”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Arbaugh Predicts He Will Die Before His Neuralink Chip Does
“I have seen The data and the study about it being in monkeys for long periods of time, and, you know, the stress testing that they do to these devices to see how long they'll last, I think that I will die before the Neuralink chip does.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Arbaugh: Neuralink reduces text messaging time from minutes to seconds
“Being able to send a text in a few seconds instead of a text taking five, 10, 15 minutes sometimes to craft because of how bad dictation is. I mean, it's terrible. There's so much that I'm able to accomplish with a computer now that I was never able to do befo…”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Arbaugh: BCIs will let programmers directly input complex code and thoughts
“If you can do that with a letter, you can do it with a word. If you can do it with a word, you can do it with a sentence. You can do it with a sentence. Maybe you could do it with whole strings of sentences, of code, of like complex ideas. I don't think we're …”
Assertion Supported
Arbaugh: Neural interfaces are already writing to the brain through Blindsight
“I'm saying it's already happening. When you think of blind sight, that's exactly what they're doing. They're sending signals into the visual cortex and letting blind people see. Like, that is riding on the brain.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Arbaugh: Collective consciousness via neural interfaces is 50 to 100 years away
“I just think I'm excited to see where the technology goes, and that's like way down the road stuff. That's like, you know, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, a hundred years down the road stuff.”
Opinion
Arbaugh Says Simulating Drug Effects Via Neural Interfaces Is Feasible
“I definitely think it's feasible.”
Assertion Supported
Arbaugh: Neuralink implant contains 64 threads and 1,024 electrodes
“There are 64 threads with 16 electrodes on each thread totaling a 1024 electrodes in all, and they are implanted in the part of my motor cortex specifically correlated to right hand movement because I did what's called an fMRI, a functional MRI, That showed my…”
Disclosure
Arbaugh Accepted First Implant to Protect Others From Potential Harm
“I knew that I would feel absolutely terrible, and I would never forgive myself if I passed it up, and someone else was hurt, or injured or had to go through something terrible, because I decided to pass it up. I knew that I wouldn't ever want to do that, so I …”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Arbaugh: Neuralink detected index finger movement signals hours post-surgery
“I was like attempting to move my finger, and I saw this big yellow spike every time, and I was like, oh, that's cool. And everyone was like, what? Like, what are you doing? And I told them, I was like, look at the third box on the top. Right now. And now. And …”
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
Arbaugh: Safety rules barred charging Neuralink implant for first 10 days
“So for the first 10 days, they weren't allowed to charge my implant because of safety regulations. They had to make sure that it was safe in my brain first, that it kind of stabilized, that the temperature range was okay, and so they weren't allowed to charge …”
Assertion Supported
Arbaugh: Motor cortex neurons still fire during attempted movement despite paralysis
“When I was able to see my neurons firing for the first time, it really made me kind of emotional thinking that You know, when I move my index finger, there are still, like, neuron spikes, neurons firing in my brain. It's really just my spinal cord”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Arbaugh: Neuralink will be able to control all Bluetooth-enabled devices
“Basically every device that you can think of that uses Bluetooth
You'll be able to control with the Neuralink.”
Assertion Open · timeframe Dec 2024
Arbaugh: Brain pulsed three millimeters per heartbeat, tripling Neuralink's expectation
“They thought that the brain moved like a millimeter when it pulsed, and mine was moving three millimeters every time it pulsed.”
Assertion Supported
Neuralink Fixed Cursor Control by Registering Neuron Groups Over Single Spikes
“They figured it out on the software side. Instead of registering sort of like single neuron spikes, they were registering groups of neurons.”
Assertion Supported
Arbaugh: Only 15% of Neuralink Electrodes Remain in Place in His Brain
“So I don't know if with my threat of attraction, because I have, they said, 15% of the electrodes are still in place of my brain, plus or -10%.”
Assertion Open · timeframe Dec 2024
Arbaugh: Neuralink implant surgery took under two hours
“The surgery was supposed to last between, like, three to six hours. It lasted under two.”
Assertion Open · timeframe Dec 2024
Arbaugh: Neuralink's robot completed implant surgery using only one needle
“That tiny dancer went straight to work and they brought like 20 needles to replace the needles because they didn't know if it would be able to Survive the whole surgery or if it would like break or anything of that sort. One needle did it.”
Noland Arbaugh