Neuralink has been implanted in two paralyzed patients who can control a computer with their brain.
Mostly true True in substance, wrong in a detail.
Factual: Statements about the present or the past, checked against the record: did they hold up?
The second judge said mixed; the verdict shown is the first judge's.
What would count as true or false
The claim is that, as of October 2024, Neuralink's device had been implanted in exactly two paralyzed patients who can control a computer with their brain. True if records (Neuralink announcements, credible news reports) show two paralyzed human patients had received the Neuralink implant and demonstrated computer control by that date. Mostly true if two were implanted and controlling computers but one qualifier is slightly off (e.g., exact count of patients demonstrating control vs implanted differs by detail). Mixed if only one of the two-ness or the computer-control element clearly holds. Mostly false if only one paralyzed patient had been implanted by then (partial). False if no Neuralink human implants had occurred by October 2024.
Set before the research began.
Evidence (4)
-
E1 Neuralink implants second paralysed patient with brain-chip Clinical Trials Arena (GlobalData) · 6 August 2024
“Neuralink has successfully implanted a second patient with its brain-chip device, according to the company’s owner Elon Musk.”
-
E2 Neuralink implants second paralysed patient with brain-chip Clinical Trials Arena (GlobalData) · 6 August 2024
“The start-up founder unveiled few other details, stating only the second participant had a spinal cord injury similar to the first patient implanted with the device earlier this year.”
-
E3 Neuralink implants second paralysed patient with brain-chip Clinical Trials Arena (GlobalData) · 6 August 2024
“Neuralink reported positive findings from the first implant – even releasing videos of the patient playing chess on a computer using his thoughts.”
-
E4 Neuralink Mezha.ua (Ukrainska Pravda group)
“Neuralink implanted chip in second patient, everything went extremely well - Elon Musk”
Reasoning
An independent report dated August 2024 says Neuralink implanted its device in a second patient. It says this patient had a spinal cord injury similar to the first patient's (E1, E2). So two paralyzed patients had the implant before October 2024. The evidence shows computer control only for the first patient, who was shown playing chess on a computer by thought (E3). Nothing in the evidence shows the second patient controlling a computer, which matches the criteria's "mostly true" case where the count of patients shown controlling a computer differs from the count implanted.
Cite this claim
Ray Kurzweil, “Neuralink has been implanted in two paralyzed patients who can control a computer with their brain.” (said October 2024). Verdict: mostly true. Reliability API, claim c_9519f5c61532, method 0.1.0+28da144b, dataset release v1.1.2. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_9519f5c61532
This claim is in dataset release v1.1.2, with the same verdict.
Reply to this claim
More factual claims by Ray Kurzweil
-
Mostly false
“It’s true of every type of technology.”
Exponential growth applies to every type of technology, not just computers.
-
Mixed
“Yet the “immune system” that has evolved in response to this challenge has been largely effective.”
The 'immune system' that evolved in response to computer viruses has been largely effective.
-
Mostly false
“Although destructive, self-replicating software entities do cause damage from time to time, the injury is but a small fraction–much less than one-tenth of 1 percent–of the benefit we receive from the…”
-
Mostly false
“That was not true a year ago. But that’s true today.”
-
Resolved true
“In 1999, I predicted 2029 for AGI and I still predict 2029.”
Verdicts are made automatically; how verdicts are made.