With Elon Musk’s brain chip, monkey ‘sees’ invisible:Neuralink’s brain chip tricks mind into seeing what isn’t there, aiming to help blind people regain their sight

Elon Musk’s brain-chip company, Neuralink, has pulled off something pretty wild: they made a monkey see something that wasn’t there. Using a brain implant called ‘Blindsight’, engineers were able to activate parts of the monkey’s brain responsible for vision.
As a result, the monkey’s eyes often moved as if it saw something, even though nothing was really in front of it. How it works According to Neuralink engineer Joseph O’Doherty, Blindsight stimulates the brain’s visual cortex directly. In testing, about two-thirds of the time, the monkey responded as if it saw the ‘invisible’ object researchers were trying to simulate. This experiment shows early signs that a brain chip could mimic how our eyes work by talking straight to the brain. Why it matters Neuralink eventually aims to utilise this technology to help people who are blind regain their sight. Even more ambitiously, Elon Musk has said that the long-term goal is to go beyond normal vision — maybe even allowing humans to see in infrared or other non-human ways. Human trials coming soon So far, these tests have only been done on monkeys. And the device is not approved for human use yet. But Neuralink hopes to begin human testing later this year. Where else is Neuralink making progress Blindsight isn’t Neuralink’s only project. The company has already implanted its original brain chip in five people – three in 2024 and two in 2025. These chips allow people with paralysis to control computers with their thoughts. Some users are now using the device for up to 60 hours a week. Another experiment described at the Neural Interfaces conference involved using Neuralink to stimulate a monkey’s spinal cord, which led to actual muscle movement. What’s next In the future, Neuralink imagines pairing the Blindsight chip with smart glasses to help deliver the right signals to the brain and recreate the experience of sight. Monkeys are a useful starting point because their visual cortex is located near the surface of the brain, making it easier to reach. But Neuralink believes its surgical robot can safely implant devices deeper into human brains when needed.