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Neuralink Announces First Successful Implantation of Brain-Computer Interface in a Domestic Cat: Meet Luna
Neuralink Corporation today reported the successful implantation of its N1 Link brain-computer interface in a domestic cat named Luna, marking the first time the company’s technology has been used in a feline subject. The procedure took place at Neuralink’s specialized preclinical research facility and builds on more than eight years of animal testing and ongoing human clinical trials.
Luna, a healthy three-year-old domestic shorthair, received the fully implantable wireless device via Neuralink’s surgical robot, which precisely inserted ultra-thin flexible electrode threads, each thinner than a human hair, into targeted regions of her cerebral cortex. The N1 implant contains over 1,000 electrodes capable of recording neural activity at high resolution, the same core technology first demonstrated publicly in 2020 with pigs (including the well-known subject Gertrude) and later refined through studies in rhesus macaques and sheep. Those earlier animal models helped validate safety, biocompatibility, and signal quality before human trials began in 2024.
“This represents a carefully controlled expansion of our preclinical program,” said a Neuralink spokesperson. “While our primary focus remains restoring autonomy for people with paralysis and neurological conditions, as seen in the growing number of human participants in the PRIME study and international trials, understanding neural interfaces across mammalian species advances the underlying science. Luna recovered well, is freely moving, and early recordings show clear motor and sensory signals consistent with our prior large-animal data.”
The company has historically used pigs for their comparable brain size and skull thickness, non-human primates for complex behavioral tasks (such as the 2021 MindPong demonstration), and sheep for additional surgical and recovery insights. Rodents were employed in the earliest electrode development stages. All work has been conducted under Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) oversight, with Neuralink emphasizing enriched housing, positive-reinforcement training, and efforts toward ethical retirement of research animals when possible.
Luna’s implantation is framed as an exploratory step to study high-bandwidth recording in a smaller, highly agile species with sophisticated sensory and motor systems. Initial goals include mapping activity related to locomotion, spatial awareness, and voluntary behaviors. No therapeutic claims for veterinary use have been made, and the work remains strictly research-oriented.
Neuralink’s human applications continue to progress. The first patient received an implant in January 2024; by mid-2026 dozens of individuals with spinal cord injuries or ALS have participated in trials across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and other sites, using the device to control computers, smartphones, and robotic limbs through thought alone.
Further technical details and any future updates on the feline research will be shared through Neuralink’s official channels as data mature.
A worker was killed Monday morning at an automotive manufacturing facility in Chongqing after an XPeng Iron humanoid robot lost control of a heavy pallet of steel and dropped it onto the factory floor.
The worker, identified as Li Wei, 34, was performing routine duties near an automated assembly line when the accident occurred, according to representatives from the Changan Automotive Chongqing factory.
The XPeng Iron robot had been transporting a large pallet loaded with steel sheets when it reportedly malfunctioned. The machine suddenly lost control of the load, causing the pallet to fall several feet onto the worker below.
Supporting this pivot is Full Self-Driving (FSD) software version 15, which Tesla describes as a genuine step-change in performance, comparable to the leap from V13 to V14. The update incorporates seven core technologies; roughly 40 percent are already undergoing real-world testing in the current Robotaxi fleet, with early feedback described as encouraging.
Tesla is carefully managing software development to minimize regressions in core driving functions as new capabilities are added. Management positions V15 as the primary gateway to scaling unsupervised FSD. Importantly, the existing AI and Hardware 4 stack is already capable of running V15 and supporting unsupervised operation.
Cybercab itself is only the first vehicle on the platform. Tesla reiterated that additional form factors will follow, pointing to concepts such as the earlier “Robovan” demonstration as examples of how the architecture can evolve.
Tesla’s mysterious Robovan makes a sneak peek with Optimus in Terafab video
Parallel progress continues on the Optimus humanoid robot, which remains on track for start of production in the coming months, with commercial sales possible as early as the second half of 2027. Generation 3 details will be revealed closer to production to preserve competitive advantages, while Generation 4 scope will draw on real-world Gen 3 experience.
JPMorgan left the meeting with a deeper appreciation for Tesla’s manufacturing automation and maintained its $475 price target. The decision to slow Model Y Robotaxi integration is therefore not a setback but a calculated prioritization of a more efficient, purpose-built solution that management believes is ready to scale.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced today that the company will likely attempt to catch the Starship upper stage with its launch tower arms “in a few months.”
In a post on X, Musk wrote, “Looks like we will probably catch the ship with the tower in a few months. If there had been a tower out to sea where we practiced landing the ship, it would have been caught.” He added that the first reflight of a Starship vehicle is expected by the end of 2026 or early 2027, describing it as “a fork in the road of history for consciousness reaching the stars.”
Looks like we will probably catch the ship with the tower in a few months. If there had been a tower out to sea where we practiced landing the ship, it would have been caught.
First reflight of the ship will be either end of this year or early next. That will be a fork in the… https://t.co/O5g9pqrzyo
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 20, 2026
Musk’s prediction comes amid ongoing progress toward full reusability of the Starship system, a two-stage rocket designed for rapid turnaround and dramatically lower launch costs. Catching the upper stage, known simply as “ship,” with the Mechazilla tower’s mechanical arms would mark a major milestone. It would allow both stages to return directly to the launch site for quick refurbishment and reuse, eliminating the need for ocean recovery.
Musk has previously signaled plans for a ship catch. In July, shortly after SpaceX’s wildly successful Starship 13 mission, he stated that the company would attempt to catch the ship with the tower on the next flight unless problems emerged in the mission data review. Earlier comments also outline conditions such as successful soft ocean landings before attempting a land recovery to minimize risk.
SpaceX has solved Starship’s biggest challenge, Elon Musk says
The latest update from Musk adjusts this timeline to a few months, reflecting the iterative nature of the test campaign.
SpaceX has already demonstrated the tower catch technique successfully with the Super Heavy booster on a couple of occasions. The first successful booster catch occurred during Flight 5 in October 2024, when the massive first stage returned to the Starbase pad in Texas and was plucked from the air by the tower arms.
Additional catches followed on later flights, including Flight 7, proving the concept for the booster and building confidence in the system as a whole.
Achieving a similar catch for the upper stage would represent a significant step forward. The ship returns from much higher speeds and greater heat loads after orbital or near-orbital flight. Success would advance SpaceX’s goal of full and rapid reusability, potentially reducing the cost of access to orbit by a factor of 100 or more and supporting ambitions for frequent satellite deployments, lunar missions, and eventual Mars flights.
Musk has long emphasized that true reusability, refueling rather than discarding hardware, is essential for making humanity a multi-planetary species.
As SpaceX continues refining Starship through successive test flights, the coming months will test whether the ambitious catch timeline can be met. The combination of prior booster successes and improving ship landing precision suggests the company is steadily closing in on this historic capability.
SpaceX has achieved an incredible milestone by launching its 11,000th Starlink satellite into orbit.
This accomplishment occurred during the Starlink Group 17-50 mission, which lifted off on August 19 at 04:01 UTC from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
Falcon 9 launches 24 @Starlink satellites from California pic.twitter.com/UscpmAxDls
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 19, 2026
A Falcon 9 rocket carried 24 Starlink V2 Mini satellites on this flight, successfully deploying them into low Earth orbit approximately one hour after liftoff. The first stage booster, identified as B1097 on its twelfth flight, landed successfully on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean.
According to tracking data compiled around that date, this deployment brought the total number of Starlink satellites in orbit to just over 11,000.
The Starlink program began with test satellites known as Tintin A and B, launched on February 22, 2018. The first operational batch of 60 Starlink satellites followed on May 24, 2019, when a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral. Those initial satellites marked the start of a rapid expansion that has continued for more than seven years.
SpaceX has conducted hundreds of dedicated Starlink missions since then, routinely launching batches of 20 to 30 satellites at a time using reusable Falcon 9 rockets. By mid-2026, the company had already surpassed 12,000 total satellites launched across all versions, with continuous replacements for units that deorbit as designed to manage space debris.
Looking ahead, SpaceX continues to expand the Starlink constellation to enhance global broadband coverage, capacity, and speed. The network already serves millions of users across more than 160 countries and supports applications ranging from residential internet to maritime, aviation, and emergency services.
Future plans center on next-generation hardware, including larger V3 satellites capable of delivering substantially higher throughput, which require the increased payload capacity of the Starship vehicle currently under development and testing.
In July, SpaceX submitted an application to the Federal Communications Commission seeking authority for a Gen3 constellation of up to 100,000 satellites. These spacecraft would operate in very low Earth orbit shells at altitudes near 325 kilometers and 475 kilometers. The filing requests use of existing Ku, Ka, V, and E band spectrum along with new greenfield W and D band frequencies between 92 and 275 GHz.
SpaceX states that the expanded system aims to deliver multi-gigabit symmetrical broadband to consumers, enterprises, governments, and billions of AI-powered devices worldwide while handling a majority of global internet traffic. Approval and subsequent deployment would depend on regulatory review and the operational readiness of Starship for high-volume launches.
This ambitious scale reflects SpaceX’s ongoing commitment to providing ubiquitous high-speed connectivity from space.
Humanoid Robot Kills Worker at Chongqing Automotive Factory CHONGQING, CHINA
Elon Musk gives a timeline for SpaceX’s first Starship catch attempt
