In 2024, Elon Musk predicted that ‘hundreds of millions’ of people would have his brain chips within 20 years—so be sure to hold him to it

n 2024, Neuralink announced its first successful medical implants in patients, and the owner behind it, tech genius Elon Musk, predicted the numbed of people to have his chips implanted within the next 20 years would be “hundreds of millions.”

“If all goes well, there will be hundreds of people with Neuralinks within a few years, maybe tens of thousands within 5 years, millions within 10 years,” Musk posted on X.

A year later, we ask if his prediction has started to become a reality.

Musk believes that the need for chip implants comes with the development of AI and the humans’ urge to keep up with it.

In January 2024, neurosurgeons implanted a Neuralink chip into different areas of the brain tissue of patient Noland Arbaugh, a man paralyzed below his shoulders due to a driving accident.

The chip, which was the size of a coin, contained 64 flexible threads, each thinner than a human hair.

During a live-streamed demonstration, Arbaugh played chess and other online games without making a single movement. He explained that the experience felt like using “Force powers” from Star Wars.

About a month later, Arbaugh’s performances declined, but Neuralink restored his capabilities after certain modifications of their algorithm.

Neuralink announced in a blog post that the second patient to receive their chip, “Alex,” is successfully using computer-aided design (CAD) software to design 3D objects and to play video games.

“To reduce the probability of thread retraction in our second participant, we implemented a number of mitigations, including reducing brain motion during the surgery and reducing the gap between the implant and the surface of the brain,” the blog post stated.