During an August demonstration of Neuralink, he claimed the device would enable people to do things like "save and replay memories," or summon their car telepathically.

On August 28, Musk livestreamed a demo of a working Neuralink device implanted in the brain of a pig named Gertrude.

brain chips like the ones Neuralink wants to make.

Jackson said the fact the Neuralink device is contained within a small package that can go in the skull is also a big improvement.

"That's obviously very important as you go to humans, but I think also it could be very useful for people working with animals at the moment," he said.

"Even if the technology doesn't do anything more than we're able to do at the moment — in terms of number of channels or whatever — just from a welfare aspect for the animals, I think if you can do experiments with something that doesn't involve wires coming through the skin, that's going to improve the welfare of animals," he said.

For the sake of any future humans who might get a Neuralink put in their brains, the welfare of test animals like Gertrude is vital, because the tests have to be conducted over several years to make sure the device doesn't become harmful at any stage, and to make sure it will work forever.

During the demonstration, Musk said Gertrude had had the Neuralink in her brain for two months.

And that research may well lead to improvements in the way we treat Parkinson's disease [for example] even if the technology itself doesn't ever form part of the treatment," said Jackson