Permission was received at the end of May
Elon Musk’s startup Neuralink, which was valued at $2 billion two years ago, is now worth about $5 billion, according to Reuters, which cites multiple sources.
Sources say optimistic investors have boosted the company’s value in recent months, and on May 25, Neuralink announced that U.S. regulators have approved human trials of its brain chips .
Elon Musk’s company Neuralink has risen sharply in price
Experts say it could take many years for Neuralink to get permission for commercial use. Kip Ludwig, former program director for neural engineering at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), said it would take at least 10 years for the company to commercialize its brain implant, on an optimistic view. The company is also facing other challenges, including federal investigations into its conduct of animal testing.
Elon Musk has expressed high hopes for Neuralink, saying the new chips will help treat obesity, autism, depression and schizophrenia. One Neuralink executive recently set more modest short-term goals, such as helping paralyzed patients communicate using computerized text without typing it.
In July 2019, Elon Musk announced that Neuralink would be able to conduct its first human tests in 2020.
