A 30 -year -old man paralyzed in a swimming accident was the first person to receive Elon Musk’s neurlink brain implant earlier this year. He can use transplantation to control a computer and play video games with his brain. Nolland Arbagh had recently talked with luck in the last few months with the implant. Arbagh, who is from Yuma, Arizona, was made paralyzed under the shoulders after a swimming accident in 2016. In January 2024, he underwent surgery to transplant the experimental brain-computer interface (BCI) of the neurlink at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix. The process, which lasted within two hours, used a robotic system to insert a coin-shaped chip in his brain and to connect more than 1,000 electrodes with neurons in the motor cortex, the part of the brain that controls movement.

The device translates brain activity into a digital command, allowing Arbagh to transfer computer cursors, browse internet, play games, and even home appliances to control your body without transferring. “The first day I used it, I broke the 2017 world record for speed and precision in BCI Cursor Control,” said Arbo. He said the system “very, very easy to use how to use.”

Arbagh is now able to study, read and play games like Mario Cart, as well as controls control devices such as their television and air purifiers. He spends about 10 hours a day using the device and re -joined the community college, where he is making the conditions required for a neuroscience degree.

The technology has not been without challenges. Within months of transplant, neurlink engineers reportedly found that 85 percent of small electrodes threads retreated slightly due to natural brain movements. Instead of performing another surgery, the team optimized the software to read signals from the groups of neurons, keeping the system functional.

Despite the failures, Arbagh says the transplant has changed their lives. “I think I have the ability again,” he said. “I think I always had the ability, but now I am looking for a way to complete that ability in meaningful ways.”

Since Arbow became a “contestant one”, eight more people enrolled in the ongoing human trials of neurlinks in the US, Canada, Britain and UAE. All participants suffer from conditions such as paralysis or ALS. The neurlink device differs from other BCI systems from wireless and battery-powered, although it is required to be recharged every few hours, which is recharged every few hours using the charging coil in the cap. The brain-computer interface has been studied for over 50 years, with about a dozen companies in the US and China have been testing since the end of the 1990s.

The neurlink approach is seen as more aggressive than some rivals, but its high electrode count may allow a rich relationship between brain and machines. Arbagh says he never doubted his decision to participate in the risky trial.

“Even if something went very wrong, I knew it would help someone on the road,” he said. For now, Arbagh has continued to share his story publicly and is working on making a career as a speaker. “I am just so busy all the time,” he said. “It is very different how life was earlier.”