Elon Musk is preparing to launch clinical trials in humans of “brain chips” that could help tetraplegic people to walk, in a new technology the billionaire likened to a Black Mirror episode.

A new job posting for a clinical trial director at Mr Musk’s neurotech startup Neuralink, which has already tested the chips on animals, reveals that the company is preparing to take its research to the next stage.

The chip is a “fully implanted, wireless, high-channel count brain-machine interface”, which would enable people with paralysis to directly use their neural activity to operate computers and mobile devices, according to the firm.

The first practical applications of Neuralink’s technology will involve treating people with brain disorders and diseases, according to Mr Musk, who says it will “solve important brain and spine problems with a seamlessly implanted device”.

Mr Musk, who co-founded Neuralink in 2016, has promised that the technology “will enable someone with paralysis to use a smartphone with their mind faster than someone using thumbs”.

The Silicon Valley company has already successfully implanted artificial intelligence microchips in the brains of a macaque monkey and a pig.