Neuralink scientists have successfully re-installed a brain chip into Brad Smith, a patient suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, according to MedlinePlus.
Through his X account (formerly Twitter), Smith explained how he managed to recover his speech artificially, thanks to the device connected to his brain and artificial intelligence.
Brad Smith led an ordinary life, but his life changed when he suffered a shoulder injury that never healed. After visiting several specialists, he was diagnosed with ALS, which ultimately led to his current condition.
He can’t move any part of his body except for his eyes and the corners of his mouth.
His condition has left him virtually immobile, making it impossible for him to even speak. But now his life has changed: thanks to the chip implanted in him by Neuralink, Elon Musk’s company, he regained his speech through a computer.
“I can control the computer with telepathy: life is good. Neuralink doesn’t read my deepest thoughts or the words I think,” he commented in the video.
Smith controls a cursor on a MacBook Pro, due to the device he has, and there he enters text into the machine and Grok’s artificial intelligence manages to translate the text into sound.
I am the 3rd person in the world to receive the @Neuralink brain implant.
1st with ALS. 1st Nonverbal.
I am typing this with my brain. It is my primary communication.
Ask me anything! I will answer at least all verified users!
Thank you @elonmusk! pic.twitter.com/bxYO3SBfA2
— Bradford G Smith (Brad) (@ALScyborg) April 27, 2025This is how the chip changed his life
The voice heard in the video is his own, as it was recorded before he lost the ability to speak, and today he can use it to communicate with his loved ones.
“The Neuralink chip is installed in an area of the brain that controls the movement intention of a robotic surgeon, similar to a sewing machine. The surgeon removes a small piece of the skull, connects thread-like electrodes to certain areas of the brain, sutures the hole, and the only visible remnant is a scar left by the incision,” he said.
According to Smith, ALS causes loss of muscle control and has taken away his ability to speak, but it doesn’t affect his mind. Despite the radical change in his life, he feels happy today with the chip implanted in his brain.
“I have ALS, a very rare disease that kills the motor neurons that control my muscles, but it doesn’t affect my mind. I can’t move anything except my eyes, and I’m completely dependent on a ventilator to keep me alive and breathing,” he added.
This Neuralink chip is implanted in a region of the brain, as it controls the movement intention by a robotic surgeon.
“The threads are placed by a robot just a few millimeters from my brain, avoiding blood vessels, so there is almost no bleeding,” Smith added. The implant captures neural firings, electrical signals released by nerve cells in the brain every 15 milliseconds, generating a huge amount of data, Smith explained in his video.
“It connects to the computer via Bluetooth, and the computer does much of the processing. The AI processes this data on a connected MacBook Pro to decode my intended movements in real time to move the cursor on the screen,” he added.