- Neuralink cofounder Max Hodak said on Saturday he left the company “a few weeks ago.”
- “I learned a ton there and remain a huge cheerleader for the company!” Hodak said on Twitter.
- Founded in 2016, Neuralink has been building and testing a brain implant.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
Elon Musk’s Neuralink cofounder Max Hodak on Saturday said he left the company a few weeks ago.
“I am no longer at Neuralink (as of a few weeks ago). I learned a ton there and remain a huge cheerleader for the company! Onward to new things,” Hodak, who was also president, said on Twitter.
Neuralink has been working on brain implants, along with the robotics needed to implant them. The company said its technology, which has been tested on monkeys, will be able to record or stimulate brain activity.
Hodak on Saturday didn’t say why he left the company. But he replied to another user who said it seemed “too early” for Hodak to leave, as Neuralink doesn’t have a “single product on the market.” Hodak said, “same.”
Insider has reached out to Hodak and Neuralink for comment.
Hodak and Musk appeared together in 2019 to announce that Neuralink had implanted a chip into a monkey, allowing it to control a computer with its brain.
During the announcement, Musk said a monkey had “been able to control a computer” using the chip. Hodak said: “I didn’t realize we were running that result today, but there it goes.”
Musk in February said a monkey with the implant could now play a video game. Monkeys have been able to control computer cursors with their brains since 2002, scientists told Insider afterwards.
Founded in 2016, the company is based in Fremont, California. Its filings with the California secretary of state list Musk as CEO, but don’t include Hodak’s name.
Hodak studied biomedical engineering at Duke University, according to his LinkedIn profile.
In early April, Hodak said someone could “probably build” a real-world Jurassic Park, “if we wanted to.”
A Twitter user on Saturday asked him: “What’s next?” “Not Jurassic Park,” Hodak replied.