The first human to have a Neuralink computer chip surgically implanted in his brain demonstrated how he uses his thoughts to move a computer cursor around a screen to play online chess and toggle on and off a music stream.
Noland Arbaugh, a 29-year-old man who is paralyzed from the shoulders down due to a diving accident eight years ago, joined a live stream alongside a Neuralink engineer on X to show the public how the brain-computer interface tech works.
“It’s all being done with my brain. If y’all can see the cursor moving around the screen, that’s all me, y’all,” he said while the live stream showed his cursor moving across an online chess game. “It’s pretty cool, huh?”
The chip contains 1,000 electrodes programmed to gather data about the brain’s neural activity and movement intention and then send that data to a Neuralink computer for decoding to transform the thoughts into action.
Arbaugh explained that he simply imagines the cursor moving where he wants it to go and it does.
“Basically, it was like using the Force on the cursor and I could get it to move wherever I wanted. Just stare somewhere on the screen and it would move where I wanted it to, which was such a wild experience the first time it happened,” he said, referencing “Star Wars.”
The quadriplegic became the first human test subject of the chip developed by the Elon Musk-owned company when a robot surgeon plugged the implant into his brain at the end of January.
He said the surgery was “super easy” and he was released from the hospital a day later with no cognitive impairments since.
“It’s crazy, it really is. It’s so cool. I’m so friggen lucky to be a part of this,” he said. “Every day it seems like we’re learning new stuff and I just can’t describe how cool it is to be able to do this.”
Before receiving the chip, Arbaugh would need another person’s help to play online chess and video games like “Civilization VI.”
“Now I can literally just lie in bed and play to my heart’s content,” he said — at least until the battery of his rechargeable chip dies.
The brief 9-minute video stream posted on Neuralink’s X account is the closest look the human tech startup has shared with the public. The company, founded in 2016, has mostly kept information about its technology and human trials under wraps — prompting calls for greater transparency.
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The US Food and Drug Administration greenlit human trials of the brain chip last year after the company did hundreds of tests on animals — and faced backlash from animal rights groups in the process.
Neuralink has not disclosed how many people will be enrolled in the six-year trial or where the trials will be held. It also has not registered its study on a government website logging medical trials involving human test subjects, according to Wired.
For his part, Arbaugh said he signed on to try the implant because he “wanted to be a part of something that I feel like it’s going to change the world.”
But he admitted being the first-ever human to get the chip implanted in his brain has not come without its challenges, without elaborating.
“It’s not perfect. I would say that we have run into some issues,” he told those watching the livestream. “I don’t want people to think that this is the end of the journey. There’s a lot of work to be done. But it has already changed my life.”
BOSTON — The Little Ball of Hate still feels a lot of love for Boston.
Brad Marchand struggled to hold back tears on the ice when the TD Garden crowd gave him a standing ovation Tuesday night during his first game back as a Bruins opponent. The 37-year-old forward tapped his heart, wiped his face and waved to the crowd as both teams banged their sticks against the ice and even the referee and linesmen clapped.
“I knew it was going to hit me the way it did. It was extremely touching,” Marchand said after the game, a 4-3 Panthers victory in which he had two assists. “The Bruins will always hold a very, very dear place in my heart.”
The last remaining member of Boston’s 2011 Stanley Cup-winning team, Marchand was traded from the noncontending Bruins to the Panthers last season for another chance at a title. He helped Florida complete its pursuit of back-to-back championships, while Boston plummeted to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.
“I left and I turned the page and I found something truly special again that I’m very, very proud and blessed to be part of. And I chose to be part of again,” said Marchand, who re-signed with the Panthers in the offseason to a six-year deal worth about $32 million.
“I built something really special with every guy on this team last year, with winning. You build a bond that will last a lifetime. So I try not to show any disrespect in that way, as if I’m not grateful, because I am.
“But I’ve been here for several months. I’ve been in Boston for 15 years,” he said. “When you go from being a kid, with a dream, and then you grow up and you have a family, you become a man and you build an entire life in a city, it’s just different. Of course, it’ll always be in my heart and always be a special place.”
Marchand got his first taste of the welcome he would receive when the crowd cheered him off the ice after the pregame warmups, as the DJ played a mashup of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” The former Bruins captain responded with a stick salute as he headed off via the visitors bench.
Fans wearing Marchand’s Boston and Florida No. 63 jerseys cheered again during introductions, then booed when he drew a tripping penalty just 33 seconds into the game. “I knew it wouldn’t take long,” he said with a chuckle.
There was a mixed reaction when the Panthers scored on the power play — a goal that first appeared to be Marchand’s but was credited to Mackie Samoskevich; Marchand picked up his first assist.
But things got really emotional during the first commercial break, midway through the first period, when the scoreboard showed a highlight reel from Marchand’s time in Boston — including shots of him being anointed with the captain’s “C” that he wore for a little more than one full season. It ended with a picture of him holding the Stanley Cup and the message, “Welcome back, Marchy.”
Marchand circled in front of the Panthers bench, waving to the fans and holding his heart. His face betrayed his emotions as he took his place on the bench, still on the verge of breaking down, and the crowd chanted his name.
“Those tears are real,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said during an in-game television interview. “He just wears his heart on his sleeve. He had so many great moments here, won a Stanley Cup here. He’ll always be a Bruin at heart.”
Marchand said he was able to mostly hold it together until his kids were shown on the scoreboard.
“It kind of hit like a ton of bricks,” he said. “The careers go by fast. It doesn’t matter how long you’re in, it goes by extremely fast. And to see a snapshot of that, it brings everything back. The amount of pride that I have that I played here and was part of this organization, I just couldn’t hold it in.”
The focus soon returned to hockey, with the Panthers taking a 2-0 lead in the second period. Marchand picked up a hooking penalty, drawing cheers from the crowd, and assisted on the goal that gave Florida a 3-2 lead with 1:31 left.
The Bruins tied it again before Carter Verhaeghe put the Panthers up for good with 27 seconds to play.
But the lasting memories will be of Marchand.
“He had so many good memories in this building, and he’s been a part of this franchise for so long. So it’s just good, kind of sit back and be a part of history a little bit,” Verhaeghe said. “He’s such a great guy and we’re so lucky to have him. I can only imagine what he meant to the city and to the fans.”
A four-time All-Star who had 422 goals and 554 assists in 16 seasons in Boston, Marchand remains in the Bruins’ top 10 for goals, assists, short-handed goals, overtime goals, playoff goals and points. His 1,090 games played is fourth in team history, one spot ahead of Don Sweeney, the general manager who dealt him to Florida at the trade deadline.
Marchand did play in the TD Garden as a visitor in February when he suited up for Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off; although he was still a member of the Bruins, the Boston fans booed him during a time of heightened geopolitical animosity between the U.S. and Canada.
He was traded to Florida a few weeks later as Boston began a rebuild. But when the Panthers visited for the Bruins’ first home game after the trade deadline, Marchand was injured and skated on the Garden ice only during practice.
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. — The New York Islanders fired goaltending coach Piero Greco, making the change at an unorthodox time just six games into his seventh season with the team and after winning three in a row.
General manager Mathieu Darche announced the abrupt decision Wednesday to part ways with Greco and promote Sergei Naumovs from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League. Naumovs, who is Latvian, has been in Bridgeport since May 2024 but has an extensive history coaching franchise goalie Ilya Sorokin going back to their time together with CSKA Moscow in the KHL from 2018 to 2020.
Sorokin’s 3.90 goals-against average is second worst and his .873 save percentage ranks fourth worst in the NHL among netminders who have appeared in at least four games.
“Piero has done a great job for the organization for the last seven years,” Darche said. “We just felt at this time it was the right timing to have a reset with our goalies.”
Darche said he did not seek input from Sorokin, who is in the second year of a $66 million contract that runs through 2032.
“It’s my decision — it’s not on the player,” Darche said. “I know he’s had success with Sergei, and that’s where we went. It’s 100% my decision, and the goalie had nothing to do with it.”
In other Islanders news, injured forward Pierre Engvall had ankle surgery and is expected to miss the entire season, or roughly five to six months, according to Darche, who said goaltender Semyon Varlamov continues to progress toward a return from knee surgery.
With some other players banged up and salary cap space at a premium, the Islanders put forward Marc Gatcomb on waivers. The 26-year-old had dressed in only one game so far this season.
Signage outside Applied Materials headquarters in Santa Clara, California, U.S., on Thursday, May 13, 2021.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Chip equipment manufacturer Applied Materials is laying off 4% of its workforce.
The company on Thursday began notifying impacted employees around the world “across all levels and groups,” it said in a filing. Applied Materials provides equipment, services and software to industries, including the semiconductor industry.
Applied Materials had approximately 36,100 full-time employees, according to an August 2025 filing. A layoff of 4% would represent about 1,444 employees.
“Automation, digitalization and geographic shifts are redefining our workforce needs and skill requirements,” the company wrote in the filing. “With this in mind, we have been focused for some time on building high-velocity, high-productivity teams, adopting new technologies and simplifying organizational structures.”
The move comes at the end of the company’s fiscal year. Earlier this month, the Applied Materials forecasted a $600 million hit to fiscal 2026 revenue after the U.S. expanded its restricted export list. That resulted in company shares to dipping 3% in extended trading.
As a result of the workforce reduction, Applied Materials expects to incur charges of approximately $160 million to $180 million, consisting primarily of severance and other one-time employment termination benefits to be paid in cash, the filing states.
The company said the cuts are a way to position itself “as a more competitive and productive organization.”
