A paralyzed man just typed faster with his thoughts than most people type with their thumbs. In February 2026, Neuralink published performance data showing that Noland Arbaugh, their first human implant recipient since the 2024 surgery, sustained 100 words per minute using nothing but neural signals decoded from his motor cortex [Neuralink Blog]. That number matters because the average smartphone user clocks about 38-40 WPM with two thumbs. A skilled desktop typist hits 80-100 WPM. Arbaugh, who is paralyzed from the neck down, matched that ceiling without moving a single muscle.
The reason this is front-page news isn’t just the speed. It’s that we finally have sustained, reproducible performance data from a human brain-computer interface (BCI) that competes with everyday input methods. Previous BCI typing records topped out around 40 WPM under lab conditions. This is a 2.5x leap, and the implications ripple far beyond one patient.
What the 100 WPM Number Actually Means
Arbaugh isn’t free-composing novels at that speed.
Photo by The system uses a cursor-based keyboard interface where he navigates and selects characters by thinking about intended hand movements. The N1 implant reads those neural signals and translates them into cursor actions in real time.
The reported accuracy sits at 94.1% for raw character selection [Cell], with built-in error correction bumping effective accuracy higher, similar to how autocorrect works on your phone. That’s a meaningful caveat. Strip away error correction, and you’re looking at roughly one wrong character in every 17. Usable? Absolutely. Perfect? Not yet.
Still, the benchmarks are impressive when you stack them up:
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Previous BCI record (Stanford BrainGate, 2021): ~40 WPM
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Eye-tracking systems: 15-25 WPM
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Sip-and-puff devices: 5-15 WPM
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Neuralink N1: 100 WPM
That’s not an incremental improvement. That’s a generational jump. The marketing says “mind-typing at the speed of thought.” Reality is closer to “mind-typing at the speed of a decent typist,” which is still extraordinary for someone with zero voluntary motor control.
Under the Hood of the N1 Implant
The hardware is deceptively simple in concept, brutally complex in execution.
Photo by A coin-sized chip gets implanted in the motor cortex, the brain region that normally orchestrates hand and finger movements. The chip connects to 64 ultra-thin threads, each carrying 16 electrodes, for a total of 1,024 recording channels picking up electrical activity from individual neurons.
Raw neural signals are noisy and chaotic. The real engineering lives in the software layer. Machine learning models trained on Arbaugh’s specific neural patterns decode his intended movements into precise cursor coordinates and click actions. The system runs continuous calibration sessions, adapting to signal drift as the brain’s relationship with the electrodes shifts over time.
One detail that doesn’t get enough attention: latency. The decode pipeline runs fast enough that Arbaugh reports the cursor feeling like a natural extension of his intent, not a laggy remote control. Neuralink hasn’t published exact latency figures, which is frustrating. But the 100 WPM sustained speed implies sub-100ms decode times, otherwise the throughput math doesn’t work.
BCI Benchmarks in Context
Neuralink’s numbers are impressive, but context matters. Stanford’s BrainGate system achieved 40 WPM using a different approach: decoding attempted handwriting rather than cursor movement, with a Utah array that has only 96 electrodes. Neuralink ships with over 10x the electrode count, which gives their decoder far more neural data to work with.
The Lancet noted that “this achievement opens new possibilities for restoring communication and control to individuals with severe paralysis, potentially transforming their quality of life” [The Lancet].
The competitive landscape is heating up. Synchron takes a less invasive endovascular approach, threading electrodes through blood vessels to reach the brain’s surface without open surgery. Their typing speeds are lower (around 16 characters per minute in early trials), but the reduced surgical risk could mean faster FDA approval and broader patient access. Paradromics and Blackrock Neurotech are developing their own high-channel-count arrays with different trade-offs.
The honest take: Neuralink currently leads on raw performance. Whether that advantage holds depends on how quickly competitors can scale their electrode counts and decoder sophistication.
What This Means for Patients
An estimated 5.4 million Americans live with some form of paralysis. For many, existing assistive technologies are painfully slow. Eye-tracking systems fatigue users after extended sessions. Sip-and-puff interfaces demand constant physical effort for minimal throughput. At 100 WPM, mind-typing crosses a threshold where digital communication becomes genuinely practical: email, messaging, social media, even remote work.
That’s the notable piece. A paralyzed person typing at 100 WPM could hold a remote software job, participate in real-time group chats, or write at a pace that doesn’t make every interaction feel like an exhausting chore. The gap between “assistive device” and “competitive tool” just narrowed dramatically.
The caveats are real, though. This is one patient, one implant, under close clinical supervision. The N1 requires open brain surgery with all its attendant risks. We don’t have long-term durability data. Electrode arrays can degrade over years as scar tissue forms. And the price point for eventual commercial deployment remains unknown, though early BCI systems historically cost $50,000-$100,000+ before insurance considerations.
What Ships Next
Neuralink plans to expand trials across patients with ALS, spinal cord injuries, and stroke-related paralysis. Each condition presents different neural landscapes, so the 100 WPM benchmark may not transfer directly.
Beyond typing, the roadmap includes:
- Prosthetic limb control with fine motor precision
- Smart home integration: lights, locks, appliances via thought
- Bidirectional feedback: sending sensory signals back to the brain so users can “feel” what they’re controlling
Bidirectional BCIs are the real endgame. Typing is a proof of concept. Restoring a closed-loop sense of touch while controlling a robotic arm is the moonshot that would fundamentally change what’s possible for people with severe disabilities.
For now, the 100 WPM milestone is what it is: a single data point from a single patient that happens to shatter every previous benchmark in the field. The skeptic in me wants multi-patient replication and 12-month durability data before calling this a major change. The engineer in me recognizes that the performance curve just went nonlinear.
Neuralink’s 100 WPM result is the first time a brain-computer interface has matched the typing speed of an able-bodied person using conventional input. That’s not marketing spin. It’s a measurable inflection point for neurotechnology. The road from one patient to millions is long, expensive, and littered with regulatory and engineering challenges. But the BCI field just shifted from “promising research” to “functional technology,” and competitors, regulators, and patients are all paying attention. The clinical trial expansions over the next 12-18 months will determine whether this benchmark becomes a footnote or a turning point.
