FREMONT, Calif. — Neuralink is making the leap that separates a research project from a real product. The company says it will begin high-volume production of its N1 brain-computer interface this year while moving to a surgical procedure that is almost entirely automated, a combination that could take the implant from a handful of pioneering patients to a broadly available medical device.
From a Dozen Pioneers to Many More
The push builds on a track record that is already remarkable. Neuralink has implanted its device in roughly a dozen patients with severe paralysis, beginning with Noland Arbaugh, who received his implant in early 2025 and has used it to play video games, browse the web and control a computer with his thoughts alone. More recent participants have gone further still, with one patient sending his first message straight from his brain and others steering devices they could never have operated by hand.
The N1 implant replaces a small disc of skull and reads activity through 1,024 electrodes spread across 64 ultra-thin threads. Where early surgeries required removing the dura, the tough membrane around the brain, Musk says the threads will now pass through it directly, a refinement he called a genuine breakthrough for speed and safety.
Building the Factory and the Robot Surgeon
Scaling means two things happening at once: making far more implants, and making the operation fast and repeatable. Neuralink's R1 surgical robot already inserts a single thread in about 1.5 seconds and reaches depths that cover the overwhelming majority of human brain anatomy, laying the groundwork for a procedure that can be performed consistently at many hospitals rather than a single specialized center.
