First woman to get Elon Musk’s Neuralink chip, can now write and draw with her mind after 20 years of paralysis
Audrey Crews, paralysed for two decades, has become the first woman in the world to control a computer using her thoughts through a Neuralink brain implant. Her latest milestone: digitally writing her name—Audrey—using only mental commands.Shared via her account @NeuraNova9 on X (formerly Twitter), the update marks a new chapter in brain-computer interface (BCI) technology.
A name written by thought
In one of her recent posts, Audrey shared a photo of her laptop screen showing the name “Audrey” handwritten in digital ink, along with a red heart and colorful doodles including a face, a bird, and a slice of pizza—all drawn telepathically. She captioned it:
“Here are some more of my doodles! I’m taking requests. Lol. Imagine your pointer finger is the left click and the cursor movement is with your wrist—without physically doing it. Just a normal day using telepathy.”
The post followed an earlier viral moment where she wrote her name for the first time in 20 years. Elon Musk, who co-founded Neuralink, responded to the achievement saying, “She is controlling her computer just by thinking. Most people don’t realize this is possible.”
Inside Neuralink’s brain chip
Audrey, known as Patient 9 in Neuralink’s PRIME clinical trial, had the chip implanted last week at the University of Miami Health Center. “They drilled a hole in my skull and placed 128 threads into my motor cortex,” she wrote. “The chip is about the size of a quarter.”
The BCI reads signals from her brain’s movement center and translates them into cursor movements. Audrey explains that while the implant won’t help her walk again, it enables her to interact with digital devices in real time—purely through mental effort.
What is Neuralink?
Founded in 2016 by Elon Musk, Neuralink aims to connect the human brain directly to computers. The long-term goal is to help people with neurological conditions like paralysis regain digital independence, and potentially control prosthetics or communicate without speaking.
Audrey plans to continue sharing updates and videos as she progresses. “I’ll be home soon and we’ll post more vids explaining the process in more detail,” she noted. As the first woman to use Neuralink’s tech, her journey is just beginning.
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