From Restoring Sight to Reimagining the Brain, with Max Hodak
In a Nutshell
Max Hodak's company Science has achieved European regulatory approval for Prima, a retinal prosthesis that restores functional vision to blind patients via a subretinal implant paired with laser-projecting glasses—patients can now read books and complete puzzles. The company is building on this proof-of-concept to pursue broader brain-computer interfaces and biohybrid neural technologies aimed at achieving "substrate independence" for the brain. Hodak argues the brain functions literally as a computer, making direct engineering approaches more effective than traditional drug discovery for treating neurological conditions.
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The brain can be understood very literally and plainly as a computer. Computational problems can be solved by arranging matter in a certain way and then letting the process unfold. The skull functions as a brain in a vat, with the brain connected to the environment through a small number of wires - the cranial and spinal nerves. Getting visual signals, auditory signals, balance, and motor input and output into and out of the brain is an end in itself and represents the central object of focus.
The retinal prosthesis serves as a great proof of concept that the approach is on the right track. Nobody had previously been able to restore a form vision image in the mind's eye of a blind patient in this way. Current capabilities need to add depth of grayscale, and there is a path to get at least red and green color vision. The technology can compound upon this path through an engineering process to make increasingly better products.
Max Hodak is the founder and CEO of Science, formerly of Neuralink. The company recently received regulatory approval in Europe for Prima, an implant that helps people who have gone blind see again. The company's quest involves sustaining the human experience and achieving substrate independence for the brain. The discussion covers alignable representations between AI models and the future of neuroscience.
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