Neuralink founder forms secretive rival to Elon Musk’s brain-machine startup

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The co-founder of Elon Musk’s brain-computer interface startup Neuralink has raised more than $47 million for a rival project, according to a report. Max Hodak, who also served as President of Neuralink until earlier this year, also appears to have poached some of his former firm’s talent for the “stealth startup” Science Corp. An SEC filing from July, first spotted by Futurism, revealed that 14 investors were involved in the funding round for Science Corp, which also involves Jed McCaleb, the founder of the infamous crypto exchange MtGox. New employees of Mr Hodak’s secretive new startup specialise in CRISPR gene-editing technology, according to their LinkedIn profiles, suggesting the Neuralink rival could focus more on bioengineering rather than just neural hardware in order to connect a human brain to a computer. It’s not magic, the reason Neuralink works is because it’s recording and decoding electrical signals from the brain.” Neuralink hopes to start human trials within the coming months, with the first commercial devices expected to help people with neurological disorders.