Elon Musk says he’s planning to ramp up production of his Neuralink brain chips in 2026 and will automate the procedure to implant them into humans.
Neuralink “will start high-volume production of brain-computer interface devices” this year, said Musk in a Tuesday X post.
The startup, cofounded by Musk in 2016, is developing technology that enables people to control computers using an implanted microchip.
Its initial focus is on helping patients with severe neurological conditions — such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, paralysis, or sight impairment — to communicate and regain independence.
But Musk has also said that Neuralink’s chips could be used to meld human consciousness with artificial intelligence.
Musk also said in Thursday’s X post that the medical process to implant the chips will “move to a streamlined, almost entirely automated surgical procedure in 2026.”
Device threads will go through the dura — the tough outer membrane that protects the brain and spinal cord — without the need to remove it, Musk said.
“This is a big deal,” he added.
The Neuralink chip is about the size of a coin. From the chip, an array of thin threads, each roughly 20 times thinner than a human hair, fan out into the patient’s brain.
Inserting the device has previously required a human surgeon to remove a portion of the individual’s skull, before a robotic arm takes over to insert the chip.
Noland Arbaugh, a quadriplegic who became the company’s first human patient in January 2024, previously told Business Insider the implant has helped him regain independence and control in his life and make new social connections.
In September 2025, Neuralink said in a post on X that 12 people around the world had now received implants and were actively using them.
Musk has previously suggested that Neuralink could have over a thousand patients with the implant by 2026, and in November 2024, the company went on a hiring spree, searching for manufacturing technicians and microfabrication specialists as it looked to ramp up production.
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