Neuralink livestreams first participant Noland Arbaugh playing online chess by thought

Neuralink/N1 implant (Telepathy)

In a livestream on X (formerly Twitter), Noland Arbaugh, paralyzed from the shoulders down since a diving accident eight years prior, moved a computer cursor and played online chess using his Neuralink N1 implant. The nine-minute demonstration also showed him playing Civilization VI, marking the first public display of the device in a human patient.

• Patient paralyzed from shoulders down (cervical spinal cord injury); N1 implant reads motor cortex activity, wirelessly transmits decoded control signals to computer.
• Games demonstrated: online chess and Civilization VI gameplay; full cursor control and game interaction via thought alone.
• Arbaugh's assessment: surgery 'super easy,' discharged next day, but noted technology 'not perfect' and 'run into some issues'; overall: 'already changed my life.'