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Neuralink, Elon Musk's brain-computer interface company, is looking to hire manufacturing technicians and microfabrication specialists.
The company, which is developing a device Musk has compared to a "FitBit in your skull," posted the job listings on its website this week. It also held multiple hiring events at its facilities in California and Texas this month, according to a review of LinkedIn posts from Neuralink recruiters and engineers. Two manufacturing technicians work at the company, based on public LinkedIn profiles, with those employees joining in 2021 and February 2024.
The roles will help "boost production," according to one post. "You will be instrumental in ramping production to accelerate progress towards our goal of restoring autonomy to those with unmet medical needs," another post reads.
Manufacturing technicians in Texas would be paid $22 per hour flat rate to produce brain implants and accessories, and are required to work "extended hours and weekends, as needed." In California, technicians would be paid between $28.85 and $44.23 per hour to manufacture the R1 Surgical Robot, which is designed to fully automate the implantation of Neuralink's brain-computer interface.
A spokesperson for Neuralink did not respond to a request for comment. LinkedIn messages to Neuralink recruiters were not immediately returned.
Musk has said Neuralink's technology will eventually allow people to send messages or play games using only their thoughts. Initially, it will work to help people with neurological disorders.
The company received FDA clearance in May 2023 to launch human trials. So far, it has reported implanting the device in two human patients; one patient had issues with wires in the implant coming loose weeks after the surgery was completed.
Tinglong Dai, a professor of operations management and business analytics at Johns Hopkins University, told Business Insider that job posting indicates Neuralink is "staffing up for volume production."
"That's wild for a company that's only implanted two devices in their trial," Dai said. "But in some sense, this isn't really odd if you consider who is running this business," he said, pointing to Musk's experience with "production hell" at Tesla as perhaps influencing Neuralink's focus on quickly building out manufacturing capabilities
A separate listing for a microfabrication technician was posted two weeks ago and is no longer accepting applications. That role lists "experience working in a cleanroom" — a space designed to limit contamination — as a preferred qualification.
Neuralink also appears to be hiring for manufacturing roles for its surgical robot, a job listing shows.
John Donoghue, a neuroscientist at Brown University who worked on the brain-computer interface BrainGate, described the hiring strategy as unusual.
"Typically, at this stage, you'd be hand-crafting the device. You wouldn't be expecting to scale production until you'd fully finalized it," Donoghue, who helped ramp up production for BrainGate's device, told Business Insider.
The FDA previously rejected Neuralink's bid for human testing in March 2023 over safety risks, Reuters reported. The agency cited concerns about movement from the wires connected to the brain chip and the potential for overheating.
Donoghue believes that Neuralink is at least seven years from the FDA approval required to bring a device to market. Any changes to the device, even small ones, would require the company to get further approval from the FDA and could further extend the timeline, he said.
Donoghue said Neuralink's apparent manufacturing push was outside "the usual process" for medical device companies. The company appears to be investing in mass production earlier than usual, he said.
Outside of the manufacturing roles, Neuralink has more than 30 full-time jobs listed on its careers page. It employs more than 600 people, including several former Tesla and SpaceX employees, according to a review of LinkedIn profiles.
It filed plans for a multi-building facility outside of Austin in 2022, according to the Austin American-Statesman. In July 2024, the company filed construction plans for a $14.7 million, 112,000 square foot facility, public records show, and earlier this year, it moved its state of incorporation to Nevada.
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