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Tesla CEO Musk's neuroscience startup Neuralink has received clinical trial approval to implant a computer chip in the human brain.

Neuralink announced on the 25th (local time), "We are pleased to announce that we have received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to start clinical studies in humans for the first time."

"This is an amazing result of the Neuralink team's close work with the FDA, and it's an important first step in ensuring that one day our technology can help a lot of people."

"We have not yet started recruiting participants for the trial," he said, "and we will announce more information soon."

Neuralink is developing an interface that inserts a computer chip into the brain and connects it to a computer in order to build a system that can control various devices with only human thoughts.

Musk said in December last year that the purpose of Neuralink's implantation of computer chips is to allow the human brain to communicate directly with computers.

He said at the time, "We expect to be able to do a clinical trial of Neuralink's computer chip within six months."

He also emphasized that Neuralink's human chip aims to make this possible for people who have lost sight or are unable to move their muscles, saying, "People who are born blind and have never used their eyes will be able to see."

(Photo = Neuralink Twitter capture, Yonhap News)