First paralysed man to have Elon Musk's brain chip explains what he did for the first night

The first human to have one of Elon Musk's Neuralink brain chips implanted in his skull has spoken out about what he's been up to since it was placed in his head.

SpaceX and Tesla founder Musk set up Neuralink back in 2016 with an end goal of creating implantable computers in the human brain.

And last week, the future became the now after the first person to receive a Neuralink brain implant showed off what it has allowed them to do.

29-year-old Noland Arbaugh is paralysed, having become a quadriplegic following a serious car crash in January this year. But following the chip being popped in to his dead, he can now control a computer cursor with his brain. Yes, really.

It's allowed him to play virtual chess in a fascinating video showcasing the device over on Neuralink's X account.

The end goal for Neuralink is to help paralysed people walk again, with Musk saying on X: "Long-term, it is possible to shunt the signals from the brain motor cortex past the damaged part of the spine to enable people to walk again and use their arms normally."

But what has Arbaugh done since he revealed his implant earlier this month?

Well for starters, he spent his first day - and all night - playing video games.

Speaking to Neuralink scientist Bliss Chapman, Arbaugh said: "One of the first times you all gave me complete control over this , I actually stayed up until like 6am playing Civilization 6.

"It was worth it, I think is the best way to put it, it was awesome."

It might seem like a small gesture but for Arbaugh, his disability meant he had been forced to give up playing the video game he loved because of his mobility issues.

He said: "It wasn’t feasible for me to play a full game or anything.

"Now I can literally just lie in bed and play to my heart’s content. Honestly the biggest restriction at this point was having to wait for the implant to charge once I had used all of it."

Footage shared by Arbaugh on his X account also showed him playing Mario Kart; something that 'blew his mind' after finishing second in a race.

And the only reason he lost? His dad wasn't going to just let him win.

Neuralink was kind enough to open their doors for me to tour their headquarters a few weeks back. It was an amazing experience and a day I'll never forget. This was at a company wide meeting at the end of the day. Thank you to everyone who made this possible. Hope y'all enjoy!… pic.twitter.com/YNa2Jtjhnk

— Noland Arbaugh (@ModdedQuad) March 22, 2024

He said: "Playing Mario Kart and coming in second repeatedly blew my mind, I didn’t think that would be possible a week in to using it, that was freaking wild.

"Even though my dad and my buddy wouldn’t let me win."

Don't expect the Neuralink brain implant to be available just yet, though. Trials are expected to continue for years as part of the 'PRIME Study: Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface'.