1st Neuralink patient shown using brain chip to control computer and play chess in unexpected livestream

The first person with Neuralink's computer-linked chip implanted in the surface of their brain showed off their "telekinetic" online chess-playing skills while discussing the "life-changing" procedure for the first time in a surprise livestream. 

Noland Arbaugh, a 29-year-old with quadriplegia (or paralysis that affects the body from the neck down), volunteered to have the device implanted as part of Neuralink's ongoing trial of the Technology. Until now, his identity had remained a closely guarded secret.

In the video, which was posted March 20 on X, formerly known as Twitter, Arbaugh played a Game of online chess on a laptop while controlling the cursor with his thoughts. He said that controlling computers with his mind felt "like using The Force" and joked that he planned to dress as the telepathic superhero Professor X for Halloween this year.

Arbaugh described learning to use the brain chip to control a computer cursor, initially by attempting to move his hand to generate the necessary brain signals. 

"From there, I think it just became intuitive for me to start imagining the cursor moving," he said in the livestream. "Just stare somewhere at the screen and it would move where I wanted to, which was such a wild experience."

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Neuralink is a U.S.-based company founded and owned by SpaceX mogul Elon Musk. It specializes in brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), devices that read brain activity and translate it into commands that operate a computer system.