Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is touting an armband that could allow you to type just by thinking. Apple has a patent for airpods that could measure brain activity.
At the same time, researchers have discovered ways to use AI to decode your brain activityโa fancy way of saying mind reading. Experts say this could be transformative for neurotechnology, which is any product that can measure brain activity and translate that activity into commands (think typing but without your hands.)
Tech companies are building off neurotech advancements in the medical world. Meta (META) is backing a team of neuroscientists whose research uncovered nonsurgical ways to detect brain activity and speech to interpret your thoughts. Noninvasive mind reading can be revolutionary in medicine for patients - it can also be used by big tech for consumer-facing products that put privacy at risk.
Regulators and governments are beginning to take action, though.. After first-of-its-kind neuro rights legislation was passed in Colorado, activists are working towards federal policies that would safeguard our thought data as AI-powered research speeds up the development of products in this space.
If youโre going to future-proof your portfolio, you need to know whatโs NEXT in the business of neurotechnology. In this series, Yahoo Finance will feature stories that give a glimpse at the future, and show how companies are making big moves today that will matter tomorrow.
For more on our NEXT series, click here, and tune in to Yahoo Finance Live for more expert insight and the latest market action, Monday through Friday.
Video Transcript
Elon Musk's start up Neuralink is facing some setbacks after announcing the brain implant, it placed in its first human patient has malfunctioned the company announcing in a blog post that it encountered a problem leading to a reduced amount of data that it could capture because of some of the threads can coming out.Now, just to explain, this is sort of complicated, this is a brain computer interface that was implanted into this patient here, Shana and they have the interface has over 1000 electrodes across 64 threads.The implication here is that some of those threads are not functioning.We don't know how many.But that is a very important part of the process of having this brain computer interface implanted into that patient's brain that allows this patient to do things like play chess without having to use his hands.If those threads are no longer functional, that's a huge issue.Yeah, it is a huge issue.When you take a look at this blog post here, it wasn't immediately clear or they did not disclose a reason for some of those threads.Uh the fact that they did react or retract here unexpectedly Uh So when you talk about what exactly this means, then for the patient who has a neural complaint in his brain, there's many unknowns when it comes to this.Obviously, since this is the first time that this has ever happened.But they are saying right now that the problem hasn't appeared to pose a risk right now to the safety of the patient.But there are talks at least initially here according to this journal piece, the possibility here of removing the implant, a so called explanation here was floated according to recent reports.So again, lots of questions just about what exactly this looks like here going forward, what exactly this means and for further adoption obviously.And so I think there's a lot of unanswered questions at this point.But again, the focal point being the safety of the patient, it looks like at least now some discussions are taking place just in terms of what ultimately would need to happen or about if there is this possibility of having to remove the implant.That's exactly right, Shana.Well, this is part of a broader push that we're seeing from big tech companies looking to invest specifically in what's called neurotechnology.And this is the focus of our upcoming episode of next.Take a look.I think we'll start getting some consumer neural interfaces soon.It's kind of like a Fitbit in your skull with tiny wires, CEO S from the world's biggest tech companies are touting a future that allows you to type and click using only your mind, it won't necessarily be due to a chip that's implanted into your brain.Rather, experts say the next big thing in neurotechnology will be portable products that live completely outside of the body like this.Since 2021 meta, Ceo Mark Zuckerberg has touted an armband that can allow you to control devices using the subtlest of hand movements.Apple also filed a patent for air pods that could include electrodes to measure brain activity as big tech firms circle around neuro tech, one estimate says the industry could be worth $55 billion but questions remain about privacy concerns associated with the technology.This is our final fortress of privacy and we've given up every other aspect of privacy that exists and you can catch that full episode of next premiering here at 4:30 p.m. on Monday.
