Welcome back to the latest episode of The Future of Automotive on CBT News, where we put recent automotive and mobility news into the context of the broader themes impacting the industry.
I’m Steve Greenfield from Automotive Ventures, and I’m glad that you could join us.
We heard this week that Elon Musk’s Neuralink company has enabled its first human patient to control a computer mouse through the mere act of thinking.
Neuralink, the company Musk founded that’s developing implantable chips that can read brain waves, raised an additional $43 million in venture capital in late 2023, and the company’s value is reportedly greater than $5 billion.
Founded in 2016, Neuralink has devised a sewing machine-like device capable of implanting ultra-thin threads inside the brain. The threads attach to a custom-designed chip containing electrodes that can read information from groups of neurons.
The firm successfully implanted a chip on its first human patient last month, after receiving approval for human trial recruitment in September.
This week we heard that the first human patient appears to have fully recovered and can control a computer mouse using their thoughts.
This all takes me back to the 1982 movie Firefox with Clint Eastwood, his character parachuted behind enemy lines to steal a highly advanced Soviet aircraft, the MIG-31 otherwise codenamed “Firefox”. The Russian MIG is so advanced, that the pilot has only to think to activate the controls. Lucky for Clint Eastwood’s character, he can “think in Russian.”
Elon Musk has grand ambitions for Neuralink, saying it would facilitate speedy surgical insertions of its chip devices to treat conditions like obesity, autism, depression, and schizophrenia.
I do wonder what the future holds for the interface between the driver and the car. Are we far off from Tesla drivers being able to control vehicle functions through mind control?
It’s an interesting future to think about.
Companies to Watch
Every week we highlight interesting companies in the automotive technology space to keep an eye on. If you read my weekly Intel Report, we showcase a company to watch, and take the opportunity here to share that company with you.
MOWITO
Mowito is building highly accurate, picking robots for warehouses. They develop solutions to automate picking from end to end.
Mowito’s picking rate is higher than a human picker, and the error rate is almost zero and it can pick more than 90% of items in your warehouse.
By 2025, companies like Amazon.com are expected to have more robots in their warehouses than humans. Companies like Mowito are going to help transform the way we look at moving goods and packing boxes within warehouses.
Mowito’s robots can be used in any place where an item less than 4 lbs needs to be picked, and Mowito can automate it. If you’d like to learn more about Mowito, you can check them out at www.Mowito.in.
So that’s it for this week’s Future of Automotive segment.
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Don’t forget to check out my book, The Future of Automotive Retail, which is available on Amazon.com. And keep an eye out for my new book, “The Future of Mobility”, which is almost done, and will be out early this year.
Thanks (as always) for your ongoing support and for tuning into CBT News for this week’s Future of Automotive segment. We’ll see you next week!
