For the second implantation, the team took steps to reduce brain motion during surgery and narrow the gap between the implant and the brain surface. Neuralink reported no thread retraction in the second participant at the time of the update. He began controlling a cursor less than five minutes after connecting the system and used computer-aided design software on his second day.
The company update described a specific failure mode and mitigation, but it did not provide long-term survival data for each thread or channel and was not a formal interim safety report. The absence of retraction in the second participant at that point was a short-term observation that requires longer follow-up.