With the rapid expansion into the digital era comes the idea of merging ourselves with the Internet. Tesla CEO Elon Musk plans to turn those ideas into reality by starting a company called Neuralink, which does just that — link neurons to a computer interface. The company currently has little public presence and is still in its earliest stages. It has also been hinted at by CEO Musk for the past six months. In Dubai, he explained that “Over time I think we will probably see a closer merger of biological intelligence and digital intelligence,” and that “it’s mostly about bandwidth, the speed of the connection between your brain and the digital version of yourself, particularly output.”

The idea to start off this computer interface program began when Pedram Mohseni, a professor at Case Western Reserve University, and Randolph Nudo of Kansas University Medical Center teamed up and created their startup company Neuralink. Together, the two men created a device that held the potential to help those with brain injuries. But as their financial backers dwindled, an anonymous individual offered to provide tens of thousands for 100% stake of their brainchild. This eventually turned out to be Musk, who now owns the trademark to Neuralink.

The essential goal of creating such technology linking the mind with the virtual world is to keep up with the innovations made in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). This could significantly improve the human brain’s capability to memorize things or destroy the barriers between us and our devices. Currently, however, these ideals still remain as details in a work of science fiction. Medically, electrode rays are used to help alleviate the symptoms of neurological disorders and other ailments of the mind, but few people have complex technology implanted in their head. It is still intensely risky to have the human brain operated on, and is only used as a method of last resort.

Though the ideals are far-fetched, it follows the trend that Musk has for creating big businesses from big ideas. Take SpaceX and and Tesla for example, which have both firmly rooted themselves as innovators in each of their respective fields of space exploration and eco-friendly transportation . The multi-billionaire entrepreneur hopes that one day, this program will have equal success as his other business ventures, and give humanity an advantage against what he deems as the looming threat of an AI takeover.