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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallMax Hodak, Neuralink’s cofounder, personally invested in Synchron in February 2022, after serving as an adviser to the competing brain-computer-interface company. The report described Synchron as having reached human implantation and testing before Neuralink, but that was a comparison of the situation reported at the time—not a verified statement about either company’s trial status today.
What Hodak invested in
Futurism reported on February 7, 2022, that Hodak had invested his own money in Synchron. In a personal post, Hodak said he first became an adviser and then asked Synchron chief executive Tom Oxley about investing. He wrote: “I’m excited to have the opportunity to ride along on their journey and, while realistically advisors are usually of limited usefulness, to help them succeed in whatever little way I can.”
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This was a personal investment, not an announcement that Neuralink had invested in Synchron or that the companies had merged. Hodak’s role and comments also make him an interested source when describing Synchron’s progress.
Why the 2022 story said Synchron was ahead
The “beaten Elon Musk to human trials” wording refers to a dated event comparison. Synchron had reported implanted human participants and a clinical demonstration by late 2021, while the sources used for the February 2022 story described Neuralink as still working toward human trials. Those sources do not establish which company is ahead now, and they provide no neutral statistic measuring a race between the two programs.
#1 Best Overall
How Synchron’s Stentrode reaches the brain
Synchron’s device, called the Stentrode, was described as an implantable brain-computer interface delivered through the jugular vein with neurointerventional techniques. Rather than opening the skull, the system places electrodes in the walls of a blood vessel near the brain. Hodak and Synchron contrasted that endovascular approach with systems requiring access through the skull.
That description explains a difference in surgical route; it does not, by itself, prove that the Stentrode is safer, more effective or more advanced than Neuralink’s technology. The available material does not provide an independently verified head-to-head safety or performance comparison.
What the first reported demonstration showed
In a December 22, 2021 announcement, Synchron said Philip O’Keefe, a 62-year-old man with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), used the Stentrode to turn direct thought into text and post “Hello World” on Twitter. O’Keefe described the system this way: “The system is astonishing, it’s like learning to ride a bike – it takes practice, but once you’re rolling, it becomes natural.”
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This was a company-reported demonstration involving one participant. It showed an assistive-communication use case, not broad proof of clinical benefit, consumer availability or unrestricted control of digital devices.
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What was known about the implanted patients
Hodak wrote in February 2022 that Synchron had four implanted patients and that there had been no serious adverse events “as of yet.” That statement was an investor’s personal account, not an independently verified safety finding. It should therefore be read as a snapshot of what Hodak reported at that date, rather than a general safety claim.
Synchron and Neuralink: what the evidence supports
| Comparison | Synchron in the 2021–2022 reports | Neuralink in the same historical frame |
|---|---|---|
| Access route | Endovascular delivery through the jugular vein, with electrodes positioned in blood-vessel walls, as described by Synchron and Hodak. | The supplied sources do not provide a current technical description suitable for a direct comparison. |
| Human evidence | Synchron reported implanted participants and the O’Keefe “Hello World” demonstration in December 2021. | The February 2022 story characterized Neuralink as not yet having reached human trials at that point. |
| Intended use shown | Assistive communication and interaction with digital devices in the described ALS case. | Not established by the supplied sources for a comparable human demonstration. |
| Current status | Not stated in the 2021–2022 sources. | Not stated in the 2021–2022 sources. |
The narrow evidence supports saying that Synchron had reported human use earlier in this historical period. It does not support declaring an overall winner, ranking safety or effectiveness, or claiming that either company currently leads.
Rank #4
Can you buy a Stentrode or use it at home?
No. The Stentrode discussed here is an implanted, clinical-stage neuroprosthesis. The reports identify no approved consumer accessory, home-use kit or purchasable implant. Access would depend on formal clinical and regulatory pathways, not an ordinary technology purchase.
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What the headline means today
Read the headline as a historical account: Hodak invested personally in Synchron after its reported human implantation work appeared to put it ahead of Neuralink in early 2022. The available sources are too old to answer the current status of either company’s human trials. A present-day claim would require up-to-date trial-registry or regulator information.
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