Neuralink’s inaugural artificial vision implant for humans will be unveiled by Elon Musk in late 2025. He recently announced that Neuralink, his company, intends to implant its artificial vision prosthesis, Blindsight, in humans for the first time by the end of 2025. During a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Musk expressed his aspiration to implant his first device in a human this year, which will enable a blind individual to gain sight.
Blindsight is a microelectrode array that is implanted in the visual cortex, the region of the brain that is responsible for the processing of visual data. The visual cortex’s neurons, or nerve cells, can be stimulated by the patterns they receive from a video camera, according to reports.
Neuralink submitted trademark applications for “Telepathy,” “Telekinesis,” and “Blindsight” to the United States Patent and Trademark Office mere days prior to Musk’s announcement.
Neuralink’s Development and Competitors
Although Neuralink does not enjoy the same level of recognition as some of Musk’s other technology companies, such as Tesla or SpaceX, it continues to discreetly develop one of his most advanced technologies: brain chips. Since 2024, the organization has been conducting clinical trials on humans and has already conducted animal trials. Musk’s announcement, according to Newsweek, is a major step toward the broad adoption of Neuralink technology.
In January 2024, the first implant of a Neuralink brain chip was performed, enabling three patients to exert “telepathic” control over body portions that they were previously unable to move due to disabilities.
Neuralink is not the sole organization that is developing brain-computer interfaces to assist individuals who have lost their speech or movement abilities. Synchron, a New York-based company that has received funding from Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, has already implanted its device in ten individuals. In anticipation of conducting broader clinical trials, the company has recently established a patient registry.
More U.S. corporations involved in brain-chip technology development are Motif Neurotech, Paradromics, and Blackrock Neurotech.
Pentagon Research and Military Applications
The Pentagon is also conducting extensive research on brain-chip implants.
In 2018, DARPA, the Pentagon’s research agency, disclosed that it was collaborating with scientists from the University of Southern California and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center to implant computers in volunteers. Researchers discovered that the technology “improves the innate memory function.” The initial test results also suggested that targeted stimulation could have a substantial impact on the moods of patients.
In 2019, the Combat Capabilities Development Command of the U.S. Army anticipated that brain-enhancing technologies, particularly implants, could become ubiquitous by 2030.
The report predicted that by 2030, specialized operators will employ neural implants to enhance asset utilization as this technology continues to develop. Intelligence personnel, military pilots, drone operators, and special forces squads may comprise these operators.
The Pentagon could use brain implants to link soldiers, special forces, and pilots to technologies that are intended to enhance the effectiveness and lethality of American combatants in combat, as stated by the military portal Military.com. It implies that “brain implants for combatants” may represent the subsequent frontier in military neurotechnology.
These technologies have been tested in active military forces for an extended period of time and have now transcended the confines of Pentagon laboratories. Brain stimulation is currently being tested by elite U.S. forces, including Navy SEALs, Army Green Berets, Air Force special operators, and Marine Raiders.
A U.S. Army Special Forces officer stated to Military.com that the primary objective of this community is to improve the capabilities of humans. In a sense, they are perpetually striving to elevate us to a more lethal threshold.
The Future of Warfare and Biotech-Hybrid Soldiers
Scientists at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, developed DishBrain, a “semi-biological computer chip” with approximately 800,000 human and rodent brain cells grown in a laboratory, in 2022. It demonstrated a form of intellect by learning to play Pong in a mere five minutes, as reported by the Australian portal New Atlas.
The Pentagon is also conducting comparable experiments.
DARPA issued a research request in January 2025 for the development of hybrid bio-robots as part of the HyBRIDS project (Hybridizing Biology and Robotics through Integration for Deployable Systems).
The technical specifications of the initiative delineate a military objective. A biohybrid robot is a framework that is capable of interacting with its environment autonomously or semi-autonomously, and it is equipped with actuators, sensors, and control mechanisms. It is produced by combining biological materials and components with functional engineering components.
In essence, the project entails the creation of a new weapon that integrates electronics, mechanics, and biological tissues and organisms.
For an extended period, the Pentagon has been conducting research on biohybrid personnel.
Dean Culver of the U.S. Army Research Lab (Nextgov/FCW) stated that the objective of these studies is to provide robots with the same agility and precision as biological systems, thereby enabling them to operate in environments that are too hazardous for human soldiers, in addition to evaluating the integration of two “materials.”
In multi-domain military operations, such flexibility means that previously inaccessible areas become reachable, he added. Future biohybrid robots may not only walk, crawl, and sprint, but also fly.
Furthermore, Culver asserted that future bio-robots could possess wings akin to bats and, through the incorporation of muscle tissue into extant systems, would be capable of moving at a significantly faster pace than traditional special forces.
Scientists at the Army Research Lab are in the process of establishing muscle tissue in a laboratory and subsequently affixing it to robotic joints composed of metal or plastic. The flexibility of muscles, tendons, and ligaments in organisms enables the correction of minor errors without resulting in calamitous failure, Culver elucidated. “I can slip, adjust slightly, and not fall.”
Federal News Network characterized the Army’s endeavor as “the development of Frankenbots that incorporate living tissue to improve robotic capabilities.”
The U.S. military and its allies are also conducting experiments to regulate these Frankenstein bio-creatures through telepathic commands given by personnel who have implanted chips.
Enhancements to the ears, eyes, brains, and muscles of combatants “could be technically feasible by 2050 or earlier,” according to a 2019 report by the U.S. Army on future military biotechnology.
The Department of Defense’s Biotechnologies for Health and Human Performance Council authored the report, Cyborg Soldier 2050: Human-Machine Fusion and Its Implications for the Future of the DoD, and is responsible for investigating the effects of military biotech advancements.
The report asserts that the direct neural enhancement of the human brain for bidirectional data transmission has the potential to revolutionize warfare.
This technology is anticipated to facilitate brain-to-brain interactions and read/write capabilities between humans and machines, the report states. Such interactions would enable combatants to communicate directly with unmanned and autonomous systems, as well as with other humans, to facilitate the optimization of command and control systems and operations.
The Emergence of Super Soldiers and Cyborg Soldiers
A report from the RAND Corporation suggests that the future combatants will be cyborgs and genetically enhanced “super soldiers.”
The report, Plagues, Cyborgs, and Supersoldiers: The Human Domain of War, published on January 2, 2024, emphasizes the future of warfare as a result of advancements in human-machine systems, artificial intelligence, and synthetic biology.
These technologies will provide soldiers with telepathic abilities, enabling them to control machinery with their thoughts, as well as genetic modifications that will aid in their survival in the most extreme combat conditions, according to RAND.
Today, the United States is supported by billionaire Jeff Bezos, the world’s largest investment fund, BlackRock, and numerous military research centers in the development of cyborg and genetically enhanced combatants.
Nevertheless, Elon Musk’s Neuralink appears to be ahead of its competitors. Musk claims that brain-chip technology aids individuals with medical conditions, yet Neuralink’s advancements clearly serve multiple purposes.
And these are the same individuals who assure us that they desire tranquility in the world.