How Elon Musk's Neuralink brain chip took a paralysed man from waiting rooms to Mario Kart races

Eighteen months on from his surgery, Arbaugh is clear: the implant has changed everything. “I feel like I have potential again,” he said. He spends hours each day studying, gaming, and handling tasks online, all powered by a brain-computer interface. What that looks like in practice can be startlingly simple: he plays chess on his laptop, races friends in Mario Kart, or scrolls through books — all without lifting a finger.

How it began

In January 2024, Neuralink surgeons opened a coin-sized section of Arbaugh’s skull and threaded more than 1,000 electrodes into his brain. The system translates his neural signals into digital commands, letting him move a cursor or control devices directly with thought.

The first time he tried it, Arbaugh broke a world record for speed and accuracy in mind-controlled cursor use. Since then, he’s used the chip for about ten hours a day, describing it as an extension of himself rather than a tool.

From drift to direction

Before the implant, Arbaugh admits he was lost. His nights blurred into mornings, and his days often slipped away in sleep. He avoided making plans, afraid of being a burden. “I just had no purpose… I was just kind of going through the motions, waiting for something to happen,” he recalled.

Now, his schedule is packed. He’s back at community college in Arizona, working on prerequisites for a neuroscience degree. He’s laying the groundwork for a business and taking on speaking engagements. After one exam, he posted: “Although I wasn’t allowed to use the chip during the test, I wouldn’t have been able to study, practise, or pass otherwise. I couldn’t even have registered. @neuralink changes lives.”

Setbacks along the way

Not everything went smoothly. Weeks after the implant, some of the electrodes retracted, reducing his control. Arbaugh stayed quiet at the time, worried that speaking out would undermine confidence in the trial. Neuralink engineers later fixed the issue, restoring his abilities.

Since Arbaugh’s operation, eight more people with paralysis or ALS have joined Neuralink’s clinical trials in the US, UK, Canada, and the UAE. Co-founder DJ Seo says the company’s long-term goal is far more ambitious: full brain interfaces, restoring vision, and even linking to robotic limbs.

Asked if he worried about being the first, Arbaugh didn’t hesitate: “I decided that, even if it didn’t work — even if something went terribly wrong — I knew that it would help someone down the road.”

As for being called a cyborg? He shrugs. “Technically I am, because I’ve been enhanced by a machine. But I still see myself as a regular guy. It’s fun to play around with.”