Elon Musk says Neuralink's Blindsight implant is ready to help blind people see

[Sharp Scholar]

Elon Musk has made another bold claim about Neuralink. Tom's Hardware reports that Musk says Blindsight, Neuralink's second product, will enable even those who are completely blind or have never seen to see, and that it is ready from an engineering standpoint

Blindsight aims to create an artificial visual pathway. A camera captures images, and a brain computer interface turns them into signals the brain can interpret. Unlike most brain computer interfaces, which send signals out of the brain to control machines, it sends information in, in a similar way to a cochlear implant for hearing

Musk says the device is waiting on regulatory approval, but the article reports no approval, filing or timeline, and no clinical results for Blindsight have been published. The claims come from Musk rather than peer reviewed data

Neuralink was founded in 2016 and began human trials in 2024, when its first implant let a participant move a computer cursor by thought. Its first product, Telepathy, is aimed at controlling devices. Other companies are also working on brain computer interfaces, including Meta with a non invasive approach and NeuroXess in China, which is moving towards human trials

Restoring some vision for blind people would be a remarkable achievement. Ambitious claims need evidence, though, and medical devices have to prove they are safe as well as effective. The trials and regulatory decisions will show how close this is

How realistic is restoring sight with a brain implant? And should claims like this wait for published results?

Elon Musk says Neuralink is ready to cure blindness - says Blindsight will 'enable even those who are completely blind or have never seen to see'www.tomshardware.com

[Dune49]

Other groups have worked on visual prostheses for years. Some had limited success with retinal implants. Neuralink is building on a long history of research. Second Sight's Argus II was one example. It helped some patients before the company ran into trouble

[HiggsField]

Helping blind people see would be one of the great medical achievements of the century. I hope it works. The evidence needs to come first, though

Families of blind patients will be watching closely. False hope can be cruel