Some recent moves from Elon Musk’s Neuralink are raising some eyebrows about just how far the company intends to impact the human brain. Neuralink has made the news after the first patient to receive an implant, Noland Arbaugh, described how the implant has impacted his life. Arbaugh became quadriplegic after a tragic diving accident, but the Neuralink allowed him to gain some functionality using just his brain, such as browsing the internet and playing video games. Despite some concerns with the product’s functionality at the beginning of its implantation, Arbaugh has spoken positively about the new abilities the device has granted him. To date, three people have received Neuralink implants.

Now the company seeks to trademark certain product names such as “Telepathy” and “Telekinesis.” Telepathy will be a program that will enable individuals impacted by paralysis to control such objects as computers and phones. The company’s trademark request for Telepathy states that the device will be “an implantable brain to computer interface for facilitating communication and control of software and hardware.” One such application could be allowing a person to interface with a device for the purpose of typing. Some critics, however, speculate the device could be used for telepathic communication between individuals. “The question is, what kind of communication? Sometimes things hide in plain sight in these applications,” cautioned trademark attorney Josh Gerben.

During an interview on the “Lex Fridman Podcast” last August, Musk gave some hints as to his ambitions for the company, suggesting he was looking for “new ways of interacting with other humans.” Neuralink has also received what is called “breakthrough device designation” from the FDA for its product named “Blindsight,” which will be used to restore limited vision to the blind and visually impaired. “Even people who have lost their eyes can regain sight by triggering neurons in the visual cortex,” Musk said during a previous interview. But while Neuralink is currently positioning itself to help those with physical impairments, Musk has indicated the device could eventually be used in healthy people in order to achieve “symbiosis” with artificial intelligence. “You could communicate at 10 or even 100 times the speed of normal conversation,” Musk speculated. He has even speculated the Neuralink could provide users with “superhuman” abilities, such as being able to see infrared or ultraviolet light. Of course, the road to such possibilities remains a long one, with Neuralink still being considered “experimental,” but the lines between science fiction and real life appear to be getting blurrier.