Brain chips don't read your mind. They do something weirder...
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This is Neuralink’s Next Gen R1 surgical robot. It’s one of several new ways scientists are now trying to combine the human brain with a computer, which sounds like science fiction because… it is! But not anymore.
And you need to know about this right now, because human clinical trials are happening and this tech is moving fast.
Some people want to use it to make you superhuman. But I think most people aren’t seeing what’s really huge if true here. This story isn’t about how to make us more like machines
Instead, this might be one of the most cutting edge ways to keep us human.
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Chapters:
00:00 What if you put a chip in your brain?
01:02 What does a human brain feel like?
02:17 How does your brain work?
03:58 Can a brain implant read my thoughts?
05:19 How do you get a chip into your brain?
07:06 What is the Utah Array?
08:07 What’s inside Neuralink’s implant?
10:06 How do you build a brain implant?
11:07 Can a robot do brain surgery?
12:20 What could you do with a brain chip?
13:59 How far are we from sci-fi brain implants?
15:05 How are brain-computer interfaces used today?
16:07 How are brain implants huge if true?
17:40 :)
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Bio:
Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, HUGE* If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo was a video producer for Vox. She wrote and directed the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained. She produced videos for Vox’s popular YouTube channel, was the host and senior producer of Vox’s first ever daily show, Answered, and was co-host and producer of Vox’s YouTube Originals show, Glad You Asked.
Additional Reading and Watching:
For more from Neuralink:
- https://www.youtube.com/c/neuralink
- https://neuralink.com/
For more from Ben Rapoport + Precision Neuroscience:
- WIRED, "Neurosurgeon Answers Brain Implant Questions | Tech - Support": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piFhYn6KziM
- https://www.precisionneuro.io/
- https://www.youtube.com/@PrecisionNeuroscience
For More on Synchron:
- TED, "A Brain Implant That Turns Your Thoughts Into Text | Tom Oxley": - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Fiaew7nDmE
- https://synchron.com/
- https://www.youtube.com/@SynchronBCI
For more on Blackrock Neurotech (Utah Array):
- https://blackrockneurotech.com/products/utah-array/
- https://www.youtube.com/@BlackrockNeurotech
Other Major BCI players:
- BrainGate: https://www.braingate.org/about-braingate/
- Paradromics: https://www.paradromics.com/
- Forest Neurotech: https://forestneurotech.org/
"With Brain Computer Interfaces, Science is Working on a Mind Meld with Machines": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PlnrJ7t6AA
"Brain-computer interfaces: first in-human recording with new, high-capacity device": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_-PG3BtDQ8
TEDxCambridge, "Rethinking the Brain Machine Interface | Polina Anikeeva": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qi5uoNYXqg
"The life-changing power of Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs)": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8_0hoGg5jk
BCI Society: https://bcisociety.org/
Hopkins Medicine also does a lot of work with BCIs.
You can find them here:
- https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/neurology-neurosurgery/clinical-trials/brain-computer-interface
China recently approved the first BCI for market. For more on that:
- Bloomberg, "China Approves First Brain Implant for Commercial Use": https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-13/china-approves-first-brain-implant-for-commercial-use
- Scientific American, "China Just Approved Its First Brain Implant for Commercial Use, a World First": https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/china-just-approved-its-first-brain-implant-for-commercial-use-a-world-first/
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—
Hey, welcome to the joke down low!
What kind of fish performs brain surgery?
A neurosturgeon.
Find a way to use “fish” in a comment to let me know you’re a real one who made it to the end of the description :)