Fact-Check: Elon Musk Didn’t Fund Neuralink Implant for 7-Year-Old

Elon Musk, the famed entrepreneur and one of the founders of the technology company Neuralink Corp., did not finance a Neuralink implant operation for a little girl named ‘Lily Thompson.’ Neuralink, established by Musk in 2016, specializes in the development of technological brain implants. The official Neuralink record reveals the identities of three recipients of the Neuralink chip. However, there’s no mention of a 7-year-old child called Lily Thompson.

Experts have indicated that the picture purportedly featuring Musk at the bedside of a young girl appears to have been fabricated through the use of AI. The circulated story attributed to a Facebook user recounts how Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur, financed the medical procedure for a 7-year-old girl. The narrative mentions a young girl named Lily Thompson, diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder that rendered her immobile and incapable of speech or breathing without support.

According to the narration, Lily’s situation came to Musk’s attention and prompted him to finance an innovative form of treatment at a reputable hospital in California. This procedure involved implanting a Neuralink chip to mend damaged neural pathways. The Facebook post from late March supplemented the story by stating that Musk unexpectedly pledged to cover all expenses for Lily’s healthcare, including the innovative surgery that might give her a shot at a typical childhood.

Despite the heartwarming tale, it appears that this narrative lacks substantial verification. Extensive fact-checking by PolitiFact found no trustworthy news stories corroborating the existence of Lily Thompson or her purported benefactor, Musk. Neuralink, co-created by Musk six years ago, produces a chip intended to be surgically inserted into the human brain. The goal of the chip is to assist individuals with impaired mobility in controlling computers or mobile technology by merely thinking.

Skeptical analysis of the image from the Facebook post suggests that the photo might have been fabricated using AI technologies. It has been suggested that the image provides ‘evidence of generative AI.’ This essentially implies that there’s a strong chance the image was artificially manufactured.

Elon Musk has previously shared about Neuralink implant recipients. Early this year, he mentioned that three patients underwent the insertion of a Neuralink implant. Neuralink’s blog shed light on their identities, revealing the recipients as ‘Noland, Alex, and Brad.’ Among these confirmed recipients, there was no trace of a young girl named Lily Thompson.

Neuralink’s clinical trial study guidelines outline the age criteria for receiving this cutting-edge chip implant, ranging from 22 to 75. The cost of each surgery is estimated by Neuralink to be around $10,500. The insurer, on the other hand, is billed approximately $40,000.

The three acknowledged recipients, Noland, Alex, and Brad, are all grappling with paralysis, caused by severe spinal cord injury and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. They all willingly chose to partake in Neuralink’s PRIME Study, a clinical trial with the aim of proving the safety and utility of the Link (the brain implant by Neuralink) in day-to-day life of individuals living with paralysis.

Therefore, any assertion that Elon Musk financed a Neuralink implant for a young girl suffering from an uncommon neurological disorder is uncorroborated. This claim, upon evaluation, has been deemed as false.