Max Hodak — Restoring Sight, Growing Neurons on Silicon, and Expanding Human Intelligence

Max Hodak is the founder and CEO of Science Corp (previously co-founded Neuralink and Transcriptic). Science is building PRIMA, a retinal prosthetic that’s restoring meaningful vision for patients with blindness caused by age-related macular degeneration. The team is also developing a biohybrid brain implant that grows living neurons directly onto a silicon chip, then interfaces that system with the cortex.In this conversation, we go deep on how both technologies work, how PRIMA restores vision, how the biohybrid BCI connects to the brain, what the next milestones are for neural interfaces, and what it would imply to add a new functional brain area to a human.We also dig deep into how Max built and leads Science: his founder story, how the team drives Fast R&D, and how the team is able to speed through high-uncertainty, high-impact projects.Hope you enjoy!Timestamps00:00 Introduction00:52 What counts as neurotech?01:45 History of brain-computer interfaces and the iPhone dividend07:25 PRIMA - How Science is restoring vision in blind patients10:10 Why stimulating bipolar cells works when the optic nerve doesn't30:30 Are we bottlenecked by biology or engineering?32:40 Expanding the brain's bandwidth beyond 10 bits per second37:00 Can we add new areas to the brain?37:46 Biohybrid BCIs: neurons growing on a chip39:20 What could neural augmentation look like?01:13:20 How Science drives Fast R&D01:44:00 How founders learn and level upLinksWoman hearing for the first timePRIMA Visual ProsthesisPRIMA patient filling out crossword puzzle PRIMA a global mission to restore visionBiohybrid BCIPatrick Collison FAST postiPhone launch keynote in 2007Pantheon on NetflixLinksJuan Benet on XPL NeuroProtocol LabsDisclaimer