Elon Musk compares his company's work to that of Jesus

MW Elon Musk compares his company's work to that of Jesus

By William Gavin

In an interview on Monday, the billionaire said his Neuralink brain-implant company is progressing in its development of 'Jesus-like technologies'

Elon Musk, shown here attending a Cabinet meeting at the White House on April 30, 2025, said Monday that Neuralink expects to give a patient its Blindsight implant for the first time by the end of this year.

Elon Musk on Monday compared the work of one of his startups, the brain-chip company Neuralink, to that of Jesus Christ.

Musk, speaking virtually at the Samson International Smart Mobility Summit in Tel Aviv, was asked to describe an exciting breakthrough technology that he's working on and that people "aren't talking about enough." After touting the potential of SpaceX's rocket technology, Musk pivoted to describing Neuralink's work.

"It has enabled people who have completely lost their brain-body connection to speak again ... and we believe it will enable people to walk again," Musk said of Neuralink's brain-computer interface, or BCI, technologies.

Although BCI as a concept has been around since at least the 1970s, the push to commercialize the technology is more recent. According to data from market-intelligence firm Tracxn, more than 130 BCI startups have been launched since 2016. Morgan Stanley estimates that the market for BCI technology could be worth up to $80 billion by 2035.

Several companies are working on BCIs, including Axoft, a startup that last month announced it had raised $55 million to advance clinical trials and mass produce its implants. Merge Labs, which was co-founded by OpenAI CEO and Musk rival Sam Altman, exited stealth mode in January with $252 million raised from investors.

Read more: Musk, Altman and China are fighting to control a potential $320 billion market for brain implants

Neuralink has raised $1.29 billion and is valued at $9 billion, making it among the best-funded BCI startups, according to data from Tracxn. Neuralink aims to begin "high-volume production" of its BCI devices in 2026, Musk has said.

The startup has implanted its Telepathy BCI in at least 21 patients with paralysis, allowing them to control phones, computers or robotic limbs with their thoughts. Neuralink has also been running a clinical trial testing an implant designed to restore speech since last October.

On Monday, Musk said Neuralink expects to give a patient its Blindsight implant for the first time by the end of this year. In January, Musk had said that Neuralink was waiting for regulatory approval to implant the BCI meant to restore patients' vision. It's unclear whether approval has been granted.

Musk said that Blindsight could, over time, not only bring back patients' sight but also give them "perhaps superhuman vision." In the past, he's talked about giving people "superpowers" once Neuralink's technology is refined. Neuralink wants to put a BCI in an "otherwise healthy person" by the end of the decade, the company's president and co-founder, DJ Seo, said last year.

"Restoring control of people who are tetraplegics and restoring sight I think are pretty big deals," Musk said on Monday at the conference, adding: "They're sort of what I might call Jesus-level technologies."

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Musk also said that Tesla $(TSLA)$ will have autonomous vehicles - without safety drivers behind the wheel - operating in a "widespread" capacity across the U.S. by the end of 2026. Tesla currently has autonomous vehicles operating in three U.S. cities - all of them in Texas - and aims to offer ride-hailing services in nine cities by the end of next month.

"The car feels like it is sentient," Musk said of Tesla's technology on Monday. "As we improve the software, you can feel the sentience growing in the car. It feels alive."

-William Gavin

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May 18, 2026 10:34 ET (14:34 GMT)

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