Elon Musk has made a pretty seismic revelation, revealing that his start-up Neuralink just made its first-ever human implant.
"The first human received an implant from Neuralink yesterday and is recovering well. Initial results show promising neuron spike detection," Musk posted on X, the social media platform he owns.
The aim of Neuralink is to give people with paralysis the ability to control devices like their smartphone with their thoughts.
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The news is pretty wild, not least because Neuralink's main media presence in 2023 was in the context of controversy over its alleged treatment of primates under testing (the company denies animal cruelty claims).
Now it seems that the company has been moving even quicker than some people anticipated, and has started human testing after years of preparation.
Musk didn't stop there, though, also revealing: "The first @Neuralink product is called Telepathy". That's a pretty telling name, as it actually aims at doing something pretty similar to what its name suggests.
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To add some flavor to that, Musk said in a follow-up post: "Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer. That is the goal."
It's lofty stuff, although Musk has never been one to shy away from big promises on behalf of any of his businesses, like X and Tesla.
These human trials don't come as a massive surprise to those who've been following Neuralink carefully, though, since the FDA gave it permission to start them in 2023.
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The implant process isn't even one that a human surgeon performs, since some of the components involved are so tiny and fragile - rather, a surgical robot is in control of things.
There's no getting around the fact that it's all quite science fiction, whether you're thinking of that surgical procedure or the potential end goal where humans can control their phones, TVs and more without even moving a muscle.
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While, for now, the idea is to empower those who've lost limbs or fine motor control to again be able to participate fully in their lives, there's no denying that if Neuralink proves a major success it could end up being commonplace technology.
This will be one to watch throughout 2024 and beyond - Musk's tendency to post updates without much warning and directly on X means that we can probably expect to hear more about the human trials as they continue, including how this first patient gets on.