Elon Musk's Neuralink gets FDA approval for study of brain implants in humans

On at least four occasions since 2019, Musk predicted Neuralink would begin human trials

Elon Musk departs the Phillip Burton Federal Building and United States Court House in San Francisco, Jan. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Benjamin Fanjoy, File)

Elon Musk's brain-implant company Neuralink on Thursday said the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had given the green light to its first-in-human clinical trial, a critical milestone after earlier struggles to gain approval.

The FDA nod "represents an important first step that will one day allow our technology to help many people," Neuralink said in a tweet. It did not elaborate on the aims of the study, saying only that it was not recruiting yet and more details would be available soon.