“Technically speaking, I’m a cyborg”
The Fortune Brainstorm Tech Conference in Utah (10-12 September) focuses on visions of the future in the field of technology. Numerous speakers present different aspects and topics in their lectures. Among the speakers is former NBL player Larry Fitzgerald Jr, a big chess fan and chess investor.
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As part of the conference, Anna Cramling will play a game of chess against Noland Arbaugh, the first person to receive a brain-computer interface from Neuralink. Arbaugh will use BCI technology (a chip implant in his brain) to play chess with his thoughts, without physically moving pieces or using a screen.
The game will be part of a live-streamed, in-depth interview at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference on Wednesday, 10 September, from 11:10 to 11:35 a.m. local time (7:10 to 7:35 p.m. CEST). Here is the link to follow along: www.fortune.com/livestream
Noland Arbaugh suffered a spinal injury in a swimming accident in 2016 and has been paralysed below his shoulders and confined to a wheelchair ever since. In 2024, Arbaugh (31) had an experimental neurochip (from Elon Musk’s company Neuralink) implanted in his brain at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix. The operation took two hours and was performed by a surgical robot. The chip was connected to neurons in Arbaugh’s brain with a thousand tiny threads. The chip measures activity in Arbaugh’s brain and transmits the signals to a digital receiver. With the help of this BCI interface, Arbaugh is now able to control a computer with his mind. Arbaugh can use the computer to control devices in his home, operate his television or switch his vacuum cleaner on and off. But he can also read and study.
“Technically speaking, I’m a cyborg”, says Arbaugh, “but actually, I’m just a normal person”.
Neuralink webcast with Arbaugh playing chess (March 2024)
Arbaugh was the first patient to undergo this experiment and was given the name P1 by Neuralink. Eight other people in the United States have since undergone the operation.
The development of the neurochip implanted in Arbaugh took nine years and is still ongoing. Neuralink has launched a new project called Blindsight. With the help of neurochips, the aim is to restore sight to blind people.
