Neuralink VOICE Project Achieves 75 WPM for ALS Patient
Neuralink announced early feasibility results from its VOICE project, allowing an ALS participant to achieve an output speed of 75 words per minute within the first week of use. The system demonstrated a word error rate of 5.8% across a large vocabulary of 125,000 words. This milestone brings brain-computer interface technology closer to natural conversational speeds, potentially lowering communication barriers for individuals who have lost their speech capabilities. It represents a significant step forward in translating complex neural signals into accurate text and voice outputs. The findings were presented by study lead Dr. Nader Pouratian at the 2026 NEALS annual meeting as part of a trial aiming to recruit about six participants. However, the data currently stems from a single participant, and the company has yet to publish a fully peer-reviewed paper detailing long-term stability.
## BACKGROUND
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that gradually impairs a patient's ability to speak, type, and communicate. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) aim to decode neural activity directly from the motor cortex, translating intended speech into digital text or synthetic voices without requiring physical movement.