Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Neuralink co-founder quits weeks after hinting brain-tweaking software could reanimate dinosaurs in Jurassic-Park situation

Neuralink co-founder quits weeks after hinting brain-tweaking software could reanimate dinosaurs in Jurassic-Park situation

The co-founder of Tesla tycoon Elon Musk’s controversial neural implant project quietly left the firm last month, only revealing his departure on Saturday via Twitter. Max Hodak had actually left the company in early April.

Hodak, who co-founded Neuralink with Musk, was most recently seen speculating about the potential for the project to semi-reanimate dead dinosaur species a la ‘Jurassic Park’.


The engineer has thus far remained silent about his reasons for quitting, insisting he “learned a ton [at Neuralink] and remain[s] a huge cheerleader for the company!” However, an individual questioning Hodak on his future projects seemed to have inspired him to eat his words. Asked what was next for him, Hodak tweeted “not Jurassic Park.”


Hodak and Musk launched Neuralink in 2016, with Hodak bringing a background in biomedical engineering while Musk brought his bottomless well of ideas. Prior to climbing on board with Musk’s invention, Hodak founded a company called Transcriptic, which has been described in the tech press as a “robotic cloud laboratory for the life sciences.”

In the hyper-competitive aura of Silicon Valley, some have speculated that Hodak may have enjoyed working on Neuralink so much that he opted to build something along those lines himself. However, others have suggested that “troubles at the management level” are responsible – and certainly Musk is accustomed to being the sole man in charge at his other companies, Tesla, SpaceX, and Starlink.

Neuralink may be the most controversial of all Musk’s projects. The billionaire has waffled back and forth between claiming the brain-to-AI setup is merely intended to help humans with severe health problems, including the paralyzed and others who can’t communicate with the outside world, and stating it’s an effort to make human beings more competitive as AI grows in strength and ubiquity.

“We will not be able to be smarter than a digital supercomputer, so, therefore, if you cannot beat’em, join [‘em],” Musk infamously said during a 2019 podcast, suggesting the “existential risk associated with digital superintelligence" was too great for humans to face on their own. Other stated (and less disturbing) aims for the project include “understanding the human brain.”

Musk and other engineers have suggested that, due to the miniature scale of the operation required to implant a functional Neuralink setup into the human brain, the entire process should be done robotically. The company’s team claims to have implanted Neuralink chips into the brains of monkeys and pigs, supposedly giving the creatures the ability to “play video games using [their] mind.” However, skeptics have argued the experimental animals’ Neuralink-enhanced activities are more like playing ultra-simplistic video games like ‘Pong’ than surfing the internet.

At least a few reactions to Hodak’s announcement sounded alarmed, with one commenter suggesting Hodak’s tweet read “like a ransom note.”


Another pointed out that it was “too early” for him to quit, as Neuralink had still not debuted its flagship product. Hodak seemed to agree with the latter opinion.


Others were simply itching to see what came next – and hoping the company’s cofounder could spill the beans on how far along Neuralink really was. Musk’s work tends to be shrouded in secrecy, accumulating huge amounts of rumors before it is finally introduced. Given the potential military applications for Neuralink, it’s quite possible that the technology won’t see the light of day for quite some time.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
×