Neuralink Secures $280M Funding For Brain Tech
Neuralink, Elon Musk’s pioneering biotech startup, has successfully secured a remarkable $280 million in a recent funding round, as disclosed by the company through Musk’s own social media platform, X (formerly known as Twitter). The Series D funding, a testament to the company’s vision, was spearheaded by San Francisco-based VC firm Founders Fund, led by the controversial billionaire and PayPal co-founder, Peter Thiel.
We’re happy to announce our $280M Series D round led by @foundersfund. We’re extremely excited about this next chapter at Neuralink.
If you’d like to help make the first human experience incredible and work on engineering challenges to restore vision and mobility, come join!…
— Neuralink (@neuralink) August 7, 2023
Funding Success
In a statement released, Neuralink expressed its enthusiasm for the forthcoming phase in its journey, highlighting the significance of this achievement. The company has been ardently working towards a revolutionary goal for half a decade: linking the human brain to computers using innovative implants. However, this pursuit hasn’t been devoid of challenges.
Neuralink’s experimental endeavours included testing on animals, a path that came under scrutiny when a macaque monkey tragically died during a project in 2022. This incident was part of the company’s initiative to enable the monkey to play Pong, a computer game, using Bluetooth-enabled implantable chips inserted into their brains.
The infusion of funds follows closely on the heels of Musk’s announcement that Neuralink was gearing up for human trials. Musk revealed that the company had submitted a significant portion of the required paperwork to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and could potentially initiate human testing within six months.
FDA’s Oversight
However, concerns have arisen regarding the pace at which Neuralink is moving. Allegations of hasty approaches leading to animal deaths and even a federal investigation were detailed in a Reuters report from December. Prior to the widespread production and distribution of Neuralink’s brain implants, regulatory approval remains a crucial step. The FDA released a document in 2021 outlining its preliminary thoughts on brain-computer interface devices, acknowledging the rapidly progressing field.
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In a recent tweet, Neuralink announced job opportunities, inviting those interested to partake in engineering challenges aimed at restoring vision and mobility. As Neuralink continues to push the boundaries of human-computer interaction, its journey unfolds against the backdrop of both promise and scrutiny, emblematic of the innovative and transformative nature of its aspirations.
