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Elon Musk put a chip in my brain
What in the World
Apr 4, 2024

Welcome to the future. There are some people who already live with an implant inside their head. Noland Arbaugh is one of them - he’s paralysed but can now work a computer with his mind.

There could be more people with brain chips if Elon Musk's hopes for his company, Neuralink, come true. He wants humans to merge with artificial intelligence to stop AI from taking over the world. That’s not happening any time soon, but there are lots of questions around how brain implants are used at the moment. How are they helping people? Are they ethical? Could we all have one at some point?

Wired's biotech reporter, Emily Mullin, tells us more about how these brain interface devices work. And neuroethicist Laura Cabrera reflects on the moral implications of these implants.

Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Baldeep Chahal, Benita Barden and Emily Horler Editor: Julia Ross-Roy

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Feb 5, 2025
USAID: Can the world live without it?

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is under fire. It is the world’s biggest donor and spends billions of dollars a year, funding programmes around the world, like fighting malaria in Bangladesh, clearing unexploded landmines in Cambodia and Laos and providing medical supplies in Sudan.

But President Trump says it is run by “radical lunatics” and he and billionaire Elon Musk, who’s got the job of trying to slash American government spending, want to shut it down. They have paused almost all international spending for 90 days and issued “stop work” orders to their staff. BBC journalist Nathalia Jimenez tells us what USAID does - and why the Trump administration wants to close it.

A large proportion of USAID funding goes towards healthcare and HIV medication in sub-Saharan Africa. Makuochi Okafor, the BBC’s Africa Health correspondent tells us what impact closing USAID could have in this region.

Anselm Gibbs, a BBC reporter based in Trinidad and Tobago, tells us about programmes USAID funds in the Caribbean. And Hilde Deman from Search for Common Ground, an international NGO that uses USAID funding in countries affected by violent conflict, talks about the impact to their work in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: William Lee Adams Producers: Benita Barden and Julia Ross-Roy Editor: Rosanna La Falce


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Elon Musk put a chip in my brain

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