At Elon Musk's much-awaited "show and tell" event for his brain-implant company Neuralink, the world's richest person shared video of a monkey typing telepathically, as he seeks to begin clinical trials for a wireless brain chip in human beings.

"The monkeys actually enjoy doing the demos, and they get the banana smoothie and it's kind of a fun game."

The billionaire said he expects approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to conduct human trials in six months, after the company missed earlier timelines set by him.

"We've been working hard to be ready for our first human and obviously we want to be extremely careful and certain that it will work well before putting a device into a human..."

Musk has also set the bar high, saying the brain chip could help disabled patients to move and communicate again, and that it would also aim to restore vision to people who were born blind.

"So even if they've never seen before, we're confident that they could see."

The Tesla CEO, who also runs rocket company SpaceX, and social media platform Twitter, is known for lofty goals such as colonizing Mars.

As for Neuralink, Musk said he wants to develop a chip that would allow the brain to control complex electronic devices and eventually allow people with paralysis to regain motor function.

"So as miraculous as it may sound, we're confident that it is possible to restore full body functionality to someone who has a severed spinal cord."

But current and former employees said Neuralink is running behind schedule, having repeatedly missed internal deadlines to gain FDA approval to start trials in people.

It's also running behind competitors. Reuters reported in August that Musk approached rival brain-chip firm Synchron, which received U.S. regulatory clearance for human trials in 2021, about a potential investment after he expressed frustration to Neuralink employees about their slow progress.