Elon Musk’s brain implant firm Neuralink has raised $600 million in fresh capital, bringing its pre-money valuation to an impressive $9 billion, according to a report by Semafor on Tuesday.
The funding round significantly increased the company’s estimated worth, which stood at $5 billion in 2023 based on secondary share transactions, reported Reuters based on privately executed stock trades.
While the company has not yet released an official statement, this latest injection of funding follows a $280 million round led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund. Back in April, Bloomberg News indicated that Neuralink was looking to secure approximately $500 million—an estimate that has now been exceeded.
Progress on Human Trials and FDA Recognition
Neuralink, which aims to revolutionise the way humans interact with machines, is actively testing its implantable device designed to assist individuals with spinal cord injuries. The early outcomes are striking. The first trial patient has successfully used the implant to browse the internet, control a computer cursor, engage with social media, and even play video games—entirely through neural signals from the brain.
Adding to its momentum, the US Food and Drug Administration recently granted Neuralink’s device a “breakthrough” designation. This label is reserved for technologies with the potential to offer more effective treatment for serious conditions, and it could help speed up the device’s path to market.
Musk has voiced ambitious goals for the company. The executive has claimed that the chip would allow healthy and disabled people alike to pop into neighbourhood facilities for speedy surgical insertions of devices to treat obesity, autism, depression and schizophrenia. Musk also envisions a future where the technology enables web browsing through thoughts and even supports telepathic communication.
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Setbacks for SpaceX Amid Neuralink’s Surge
While Neuralink gains momentum, another Musk-led venture is facing technical setbacks. SpaceX’s Starship rocket launched from Texas on Tuesday but failed to complete all of its planned objectives. Roughly halfway through its flight, the spacecraft lost control, highlighting the ongoing engineering challenges tied to Musk’s broader Mars colonisation vision.
The 122-meter-tall rocket is central to Musk’s aspirations of enabling human travel to the Red Planet. Although it successfully passed the stage where earlier attempts had failed—those prior launches had scattered debris across Caribbean islands and disrupted airline routes—this latest test underscores the hurdles that still remain in realising those long-term plans.
