Neuralink helped a monkey "see" non-existent things. What is the market interested in Musk's startups?

Ilon Musk's company Neuralink's tests on monkeys have shown that scientists are able to translate an image into the brain using an implant. In the long term, this technology could help the blind see. Musk's other companies are also making progress. According to trading platform Caplight, the combined valuations of SpaceX, Neuralink, The Boring Company and xAI on the secondary market for private company stocks rose 45% in the four months after the U.S. election.

An implant called Blindsight, developed by Neuralink, stimulated the parts of a test monkey's brain responsible for vision, company engineer Joseph O'Doherty reported at a June 13 conference. In at least two out of three cases, the monkey with the brain implant moved its gaze in the direction where scientists were trying to visualize an object that wasn't actually there, wrote Bloomberg.

Blindsight mimics the workings of the eye and represents one of the most ambitious developments in neurotechnology, a field that seeks to push the boundaries of medicine with the help of microchips and IT solutions. Blindsight's short-term goal is to restore vision, while in the long term it aims to give humans "superhuman" vision, such as infrared vision, Musk said earlier. He said Neuralink has been testing the implant on monkeys for several years and expects to begin tests on humans this year. In the U.S., the device has not yet been authorized for human experiments, and it is not clear whether it will be able to interact with humans at all, the agency notes.

Neuralink is also in the process of installing implants for people with paralysis so that they can interact directly with computers. According to Musk, five people have received such implants so far. Some test subjects are now using the device for up to 60 hours a week, according to Neuralink's presentation. In the future, Musk claims, with the help of implants, paralyzed people will be able to move and even walk again.

Musk's medical ambitions are just an intermediate step toward his main goal: to speed up human communication, which he says will help "mitigate the risks associated with digital superintelligence." 

Neuralink is one of Tesla CEO's private companies. In parallel, Musk is developing artificial intelligence at xAI, building rockets at SpaceX and drilling tunnels at The Boring Company. These projects are attracting a lot of interest from investors. According to the Caplight platform, the combined valuation of SpaceX, Neuralink, The Boring Company and xAI, owned by Musk, after the U.S. presidential election by March 2025 rose by 45% on the secondary stock market, wrote Bloomberg.

Secondary market transactions tend to indicate more about investor interest than a company's performance, as secondary investors typically don't get inside access to financials, Bloomberg notes.

- Investors were particularly interested in the AI platform xAI: its valuation for four months increased by 110% and reached $96 billion as of March 10. For comparison, according to Bloomberg, the most profitable stock in the S&P 500 index over the same period was Super Micro Computer, which showed a 63% return. After the takeover of Social Network X, xAI's estimated value is about $113 billion. 

- SpaceX's valuation reached about $350 billion thanks to a so-called tender offer in December, wrote Bloomberg. On June 11, ARK Invest, owned by Katie Wood, published a report on SpaceX with a bold prediction that the company's value would reach $2.5 trillion by 2030.

- Neuralink is valued at $9 billion, according to Pitchbook. In early June, the company raised $650 million from investors.

- And only The Boring Company, which builds tunnels, lost 7.8% of its value after the presidential election. In 2023, the company was valued at more than $7 billion.