Join our Waitlist for Expert Advice!

Elon Musk's Neuralink Releases Incredible Video of a Monkey Playing Video Games With Its Mind In a nearly four-minute video, Pager can be seen playing 'MindPong' without using a joystick.

By Justin Chan

On Thursday, Elon Musk's neurotechnology company Neuralink released a video showing a monkey playing video games with its mind.

The nearly four-minute video, which has since been viewed over a million times on YouTube, shows Pager, a 9-year-old macaque monkey with a Neuralink placed on each side of his brain, playing "MindPong" on a computer screen in exchange for a "tasty banana smoothie delivered through a straw."

Related: Neuralink, a company owned by Elon Musk, implants a chip in a monkey so that it uses a video game with its mind

Pager is initially seen using a joystick to move a cursor to targets on the screen. As he's playing, researchers are also shown live-streaming the thousands of neurons that are being fired from the monkey's brain — a step taken to mathematically model the relationship between the patterns of neural activity and the different joystick movements Pager makes.

A few minutes later, scientists unplug the joystick, but Pager still controls the game (albeit without his knowledge).

According to Neuralink, scientists implanted the chips in Pager's brain about six weeks ago. Musk believes that the same tech could be used to "enable someone with paralysis to use a smartphone with their mind faster than someone using their thumbs."

In 2020, the company performed a similar test of the technology on a pig named Gertrude.

Justin Chan

Entrepreneur Staff

News Writer

Justin Chan is a news writer at Entrepreneur.com. Previously, he was a trending news editor at Verizon Media, where he covered entrepreneurship, lifestyle, pop culture, and tech. He was also an assistant web editor at Architectural Record, where he wrote on architecture, travel, and design. Chan has additionally written for Forbes, Reader's Digest, Time Out New YorkHuffPost, Complex, and Mic. He is a 2013 graduate of Columbia Journalism School, where he studied magazine journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @jchan1109.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Business News

You Have One Month Left to Buy a House, According to Barbara Corcoran. Here's Why.

"If you are planning on waiting a year and seeing where interest rates go, you are out of your mind," Corcoran said.

Business News

These 3 Side Hustles Make the Most Money While Working Fewer Hours, According to a New Survey

The survey also found that having a side hustle doubled as a path to becoming more employable.

Business News

This New Restaurant Is Banking on One Dish — Because It's the Only Entrée on the Menu

The new hotspot is gaining buzz on social media for its innovative yet super simple concept.

Side Hustle

I Made $14,000 in 1 Week With a Spontaneous Halloween Costume Side Hustle — Here's How

Sabba Keynejad was in art school when he started to refine his entrepreneurial skills.

Leadership

4 Bold Leadership Moves Every Successful CEO Uses to Navigate Change

Ready to turn fear into fuel and lead with confidence? In this article, I share how leaving my corporate job without a plan led me to build a thriving business. Learn four bold strategies to embrace uncertainty and turn challenges into opportunities for growth today.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.