Brain implants let paralysed patients speak their own words in real time as the implant race accelerates worldwide
From the Newshound archive · first published 19 September 2026.
A Michigan woman in her 60s with progressive motor neuron disease used Paradromics' Connexus brain-computer interface to hold a live phone call with her grandchildren, with her first freely chosen sentence — "Okay, I have a lot to say" — decoded with zero errors. The device, implanted at University of Michigan Health in June, uses 421 microelectrodes finer than a human hair to record individual neurons and convert them into text and synthesised speech. Separately, a Neuralink trial participant used his implant to say "I love you" aloud to his partner, in a clip Elon Musk shared on social media. A University of California San Francisco team has also published a Nature Neuroscience study showing a single implant can translate both speech and hand gestures simultaneously.
Paradromics' Connect-One study — the first long-term human implant trial — will follow the Michigan woman for six years, with the FDA having approved it under an investigational device exemption in November 2025.
Neuralink's rival chip has now reached at least 21 enrolled participants worldwide, with Musk's company recording zero serious device-related adverse events.
'Don't be afraid — it's a wonderful experience,' the Michigan woman told researchers through the device when asked what she would tell others considering the surgery.