Founded by Elon Musk, Neuralink is set to commence clinical trials in the USA in October 2025. The device aims to read speech signals directly from the brain and convert them into text, as reported by Bloomberg. The primary objective is to assist individuals with speech difficulties, particularly after strokes or due to neurodegenerative diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

President of Neuralink, DJ Seo, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted permission for the study under an experimental device exemption. According to Seo, the technology will be able to capture what a person attempts to say or envisions saying.

"If you imagine you are saying something, we will be able to capture that," said the president of Neuralink.

Currently, Neuralink is conducting five other clinical trials involving implants that allow control over electronic devices, including computers and robotic prostheses, through brain signals. As of now, there are no commercially available implants for direct speech reading from the brain.

The company aims to install its device in healthy individuals by 2030, marking a significant step towards consumer technology development. Seo mentioned that users would eventually interact with large AI language models "at the speed of thought" and receive responses through devices like headphones.

Similar technologies are already being tested by other research groups to restore speech in patients who retain cognitive abilities but cannot physically articulate words.

The start of trials in October has been postponed from an earlier schedule that aimed for implantation in the speech cortex by the end of September. In addition to speech restoration, Neuralink is also exploring treatment options for blindness and Parkinson's disease. By 2031, the company plans to install implants in 20,000 individuals annually.