How Many Humans Have Neuralink Implants in 2025? Latest Count

Update, October 2026: Neuralink reported 21 participants on January 28, 2026, and Neura Pod's patient table lists 27+ publicly known patients as of October 2026. Participants have streamed over 50,000 hours of neural data, according to Neuralink (October 2026). The count below is as of October 28, 2025.

• As of October 28, 2025, exactly 13 humans had Neuralink brain implants, with 10 in the United States, 2 in Canada, and 1 in the United Kingdom.
• Participants in Neuralink's PRIME and CONVOY studies were controlling computers, phones, and robotic arms directly with their thoughts.
• Elon Musk said Neuralink expected 20 to 30 implants in 2025.

The count reached 13 in late October 2025

Neuralink had implanted its N1 brain-computer interface in 13 humans as of October 28, 2025, across three countries: 10 in the United States, 2 in Canada, and 1 in the United Kingdom. The count climbed from 12 in early October to 13 by October 28, driven by ongoing PRIME enrollments and the CONVOY study for robotic arm control.

The first implant took place in January 2024 with Noland Arbaugh. By September 2025, Reuters confirmed 12 recipients. The group included Nick Wray, the eighth implant and the first person with ALS to use an assistive robotic arm to feed himself. Most participants have quadriplegia from spinal cord injury or ALS.

Implants by location and study

In the US, the 10 patients were implanted at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, and the University of Miami. Neuralink submitted data from its first Barrow participants to the New England Journal of Medicine. The 2 Canadian implants, at Toronto Western Hospital, were Neuralink's first outside the US.

The UK's single implant went to Paul at University College London Hospitals (UCLH) in October 2025. All 13 were in PRIME-family studies (PRIME, CAN-PRIME, and GB-PRIME), which test thought-controlled cursors and typing. Several had also cross-enrolled in CONVOY, which adds physical tasks like eating with a robotic arm.

Noland Arbaugh was using his implant about 10 hours a day by August 2025, for gaming, browsing, and study.

Patient milestones

Noland Arbaugh, Participant 1, played games and designed 3D models on his own 18 months after his implant. Alex Conley was the first to control a robotic arm, and Nick Wray used one to feed himself, microwave meals, and put on a hat, sharing the moments on X.

Neuralink has reported no serious adverse events across 13 implants and thousands of hours. The R1 robot is designed to avoid blood vessels when it inserts the threads. Patients charge the implant wirelessly and receive software updates over the air. Jon Noble, a later UK participant, wrote in December 2025 that more than 10,000 people were on the US waiting list.

Plans after 13 implants

Elon Musk said Neuralink expected 20 to 30 implants in 2025; the company reached about 20 by the end of December. A site in the UAE was recruiting, and Blindsight vision trials were expected in 2026. The $650 million Series E raised in June 2025 funds the expansion, and internal projections reported by Bloomberg target 20,000 implants a year by 2031.

Neuralink's roadmap targets about 10,000 channels in 2027 and 25,000 in 2028. Neuralink addressed thread retraction with redesigns after Noland's surgery.

For the latest patient count, see the Neura Pod patient table, and to apply for a trial, visit neuralink.com/trials.