Chapter 176

Musk becomes impatient with Neuralink's progress and redirects the company's focus from mind-controlled computers toward more ambitious goals: restoring mobility to paralyzed people and restoring vision to the blind. He forces his team to hold a public presentation on November 30 showcasing these new missions alongside the company's existing technology demonstrations.

After moving to Texas, Musk opens a Neuralink facility in a converted axe-throwing venue called Hatchet Alley in Austin, with pigs and sheep housed in nearby barns for experiments. During a late 2021 visit to the pig barns, Musk expresses frustration that Neuralink's achievements—such as teaching a monkey to play Pong telepathically—generate YouTube views but lack compelling real-world applications. He pivots the company's direction, proposing that brain chips could enable paralyzed people to regain limb function by sending signals directly to muscles, bypassing spinal cord damage. He announces this new mission to the team via conference call and makes weekly lab visits to monitor progress. Lead engineer Jeremy Barenholtz demonstrates hydrogel samples and videos of experimental pigs (Captain and Tennille) moving their legs via electrical stimulation. Discussions expand to include restoring hearing and vision, with Musk enthusiastically considering augmentative applications like infrared or ultraviolet sight. By September, Musk grows impatient again and mandates a public presentation for November 30. At the event in Fremont, attended by podcaster Lex Fridman and animator Justin Roiland, Musk frames Neuralink as both a human-AI interface to prevent machines from running amok and announces near-term missions to restore vision and full-body functionality to those with severed spinal cords. The presentation lasts three hours, after which Musk celebrates with his engineers.