Elon Musk’s startup deepens ambitions in human-AI integration amid growing competition from Paradromics and others
Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain-computer interface (BCI) startup, has raised US$650 million in fresh funding as it advances human clinical trials and expands its portfolio of implantable neurotechnology devices.
The Series E round, announced Monday, drew participation from leading investors including ARK Invest, Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund, Thrive Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and QIA. Neuralink says the capital will help it accelerate development of next-generation devices that “deepen the connection between biological and artificial intelligence,” while expanding access to patients with severe neurological impairments.
Neuralink’s flagship product, Telepathy, uses ultra-thin flexible threads—each thinner than a human hair—embedded directly in the brain. These threads house a total of 1,024 electrodes that capture neural signals and relay them wirelessly to external devices such as computers or phones. The goal: to allow individuals with severe paralysis to control digital and physical tools using only their thoughts.
The company has now implanted five patients with the Telepathy system, and says they can already use it to interact with technology. Neuralink is running four clinical trials across three countries, and has received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Breakthrough Device designation for both a vision-restoring product (Blindsight) and a speech restoration system.
A competitive and fast-moving field
The announcement comes on the same day that rival startup Paradromics revealed it had successfully implanted its own BCI in a human brain for the first time. While Neuralink’s Telepathy device has already entered multi-patient clinical trials, Paradromics’ Connexus device was inserted for just 10 minutes during a scheduled epilepsy resection surgery to test its safety and ability to record neural signals.
Founded in Austin in 2015, Paradromics claims its platform supports faster data transfer rates and longer device lifespans than Neuralink’s. Its implants use 420 tiny needles to access individual neurons—offering potentially higher signal quality for tasks such as speech decoding. Paradromics now plans to launch a full clinical trial by year-end focused on restoring communication for people with conditions like ALS, stroke, or spinal cord injury.
Other BCI competitors include Synchron, which places its device in blood vessels near the brain, and Precision Neuroscience, whose system sits atop the brain rather than penetrating it. Both alternatives favour less invasive methods but may offer lower resolution than the neuron-level access used by Neuralink and Paradromics.
A crowded visionary agenda
Neuralink’s ambitions go beyond restoring mobility. Musk has repeatedly described future capabilities such as enabling blind individuals to see via Blindsight, even those lacking functional optic nerves. He has also publicly committed to receiving a Neuralink implant himself.
Despite this bold vision, Neuralink’s path to commercialisation remains long. Its first implant in January 2024 was marred by signal degradation due to slippage of the device’s threads, although subsequent implants reportedly avoided the issue. Still, the company is pushing forward, buoyed by investor confidence and regulatory momentum.
The new funding round boosts Neuralink’s reported valuation to around US$9 billion. Meanwhile, Musk recently stepped back from his role as a special adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump to refocus on his companies—including Tesla, SpaceX, xAI, and Neuralink.
