In another boost to his sci-fi credibility, Elon Musk - the boss of electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) - has launched a new company which aims to develop technology that connects the human brains to computers.
The start-up firm, Neuralink, which is in its very early stages has been registered as a “medical research” firm, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal, later confirmed by Musk in a tweet.
The report said the firm will develop so-called “neural lace” technology which would implant tiny electrodes into the brain, a technique could be used to improve memory or give humans added artificial intelligence.
Confirming the existence of the company last night, Musk tweeted: “Long Neuralink piece coming out on @waitbutwhy in about a week. Difficult to dedicate the time, but existential risk is too high not to. said more would be made public next week via the WaitButWhy website.”
As well as being chief executive of electric Tesla, Musk is involved with running space exploration company Space X, a project to reinvent transport called Hyperloop and a firm investigating the feasibility of boring tunnels underneath Los Angeles.