On Tuesday, Elon Musk announced on the social platform X that his brain-computer interface company, Neuralink, is working on restoring the ability to speak in individuals who have lost it. The announcement followed a demonstration by the company of a brain implant device capable of translating the thoughts of a patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) into audible speech.

Neuralink revealed the latest progress in its brain-computer interface technology, showcasing how its N1 implant can convert brain signals into spoken words. The demonstration featured Kenneth Shock, who has ALS, a neurodegenerative disease that progressively robs patients of their ability to move and speak.

In a video shared on social media, Shock was able to communicate without opening his mouth. The implant captures neural activity related to speech and converts it into text, which is then vocalized by a computer program.

Neuralink explained in a blog post how it interprets speech-related signals: "Specific areas of the brain are activated, producing signals that are transmitted to the muscles of the mouth, tongue, and vocal cords."

The system relies on machine learning to map brain signals to phonemes—the smallest units of sound.

Engineers first trained the model by having Shock speak sentences aloud, then by having him silently articulate them, and finally by having him imagine speaking without any physical movement.

Skyler Granatir, a Neuralink engineer, stated, "We guide him to say certain sentences... [and] use that data to map neural intent to actual words."

By the final stage, the system could detect the speaker's intent without any physical movement and assemble phonemes into complete sentences.

In the video, Shock communicated through the device, saying, "I am speaking to you with my thoughts."

This test is part of Neuralink's ongoing clinical trial for speech restoration and remains in the experimental phase.

Challenges remain in processing speed and accuracy, but the company is committed to improving both.

Granatir said, "We aim to build a system that can directly convert brain information into speech in real-time."

Elon Musk shared the video on X, writing, "Neuralink is helping restore the ability to speak to those who have lost it."