Neuralink, the neurotech startup co-founded by Elon Musk, announced Thursday it has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to conduct its first in-human clinical study.

Neuralink is building a brain implant called the Link, which aims to help patients with severe paralysis control external technologies using only neural signals. This means patients with severe degenerative diseases like ALS could eventually regain their ability to communicate with loved ones by moving cursors and typing with their minds.

“This is the result of incredible work by the Neuralink team in close collaboration with the FDA and represents an important first step that will one day allow our technology to help many people,” the company wrote in a tweet.

The FDA and Neuralink did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. The extent of the approved trial is not known. Neuralink said in a tweet that patient recruitment for its clinical trial is not open yet.

Neuralink is part of the emerging brain-computer interface, or BCI, industry. A BCI is a system that deciphers brain signals and translates them into commands for external technologies. Neuralink is perhaps the best-known name in the space thanks to the high profile of Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter.

Scientists have been studying BCI technology for decades, and several companies have developed promising systems that they hope to bring to market. But receiving FDA approval for a commercial medical device is no small task — it requires companies to successfully conduct several extremely thorough rounds of testing and data safety collection.

No BCI company has managed to clinch the FDA’s final seal of approval. But by receiving the go-ahead for a study with human patients, Neuralink is one step closer to market.

Neuralink’s BCI will require patients to undergo invasive brain surgery. Its system centers around the Link, a small circular implant that processes and translates neural signals. The Link is connected to a series of thin, flexible threads inserted directly into the brain tissue where they detect neural signals.

Patients with Neuralink devices will learn to control it using the Neuralink app. Patients will then be able to control external mice and keyboards through a Bluetooth connection, according to the company’s website.

The FDA’s approval for an in-human study is a significant win for Neuralink after a series of recent hurdles at the company. In February, the U.S. Department of Transportation confirmed to CNBC that it had opened an investigation into Neuralink for allegedly packaging and transporting contaminated hardware in an unsafe manner. Reuters reported in March that the FDA had rejected Neuralink’s application for human trials, and reportedly outlined “dozens” of issues the company needed to address.

Neuralink has also come under fire from activist groups for its alleged treatment of animals. The Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine, which advocates against animal testing, has repeatedly called on Musk to release details about experiments on monkeys that had resulted in internal bleeding, paralysis, chronic infections, seizures, declining psychological health and death.

A representative for PCRM did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

In addition to helping patients with paralysis, experts believe BCIs could someday help treat maladies like blindness and mental illness. Musk has expressed his intent for Neuralink to explore these future use cases, as well as potential applications for healthy people.

At a “show and tell” recruitment event late last year, Musk even claimed he plans to someday receive one of Neuralink’s implants himself.

“You could have a Neuralink device implanted right now and you wouldn’t even know,” Musk said at the time. “In fact, in one of these demos, I will.”

Just in time for Memorial Day: cheap beer and, in some cases, practically free.

Bud Light parent company, AB InBev, has launched a promotion offering a rebate of up to $15 to win back customers of the longtime top-selling beer in the U.S.

The web address of the promotion is BudLight.com/BudLightOnUs.

U.S. residents can submit to that link proof of purchase of a 15-pack – or larger – of Budweiser, Bud Light, Bud Select or Bud Select 55 to receive a prepaid card worth up to $15. Customers will have until May 31 to make the purchase, and up to six months to use the card.

The promotion follows the ongoing backlash to Bud Light’s decision to tap transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney as a spokesperson during March Madness. Many customers also responded negatively to comments made by Alissa Heinerscheid, who took over as vice president of marketing for Bud Light last June, on a recent podcast. Among other things, she called on the brand to be more ‘inclusive.’

AB InBev did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to data cited by Beer Business Daily, Bud Light sales continued to fall through the week ending May 13, as negative sentiment toward the drink continued to build.

AB InBev shares are now down 5% year-to-date and nearly 14% since the Mulvaney clip went online.

Mega retailer Target is pulling some of its merchandise that celebrates Pride month after threats to employees, the company said Tuesday.

“Since introducing this year’s collection, we’ve experienced threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and wellbeing while at work,” a Target spokesperson said in a statement.

“Given these volatile circumstances, we are making adjustments to our plans, including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior,” the spokesperson said.

The retailer’s decision comes amid a wider national debate over civil rights for transgender people.

Target did not say which items were being removed or immediately provide more details about the threats.

Pride month merchandise at the front of a Target store in Hackensack, N.J., on Wednesday.Seth Wenig / AP

The collection includes “tuck-friendly” swimsuits that allow trans people who have not had gender-affirming operations to conceal their private parts, The Associated Press has previously reported.

Those swimsuits, which are available only in adult sizes, were used in false and misleading claims by critics online.

The Target spokesperson did not answer whether those bathing suits were among the products in question.

The retailer said that it has offered products to go along with Pride month for more than a decade. Pride Month is June, and celebrates lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people and issues.

“Our focus now is on moving forward with our continuing commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community and standing with them as we celebrate Pride Month and throughout the year,” the store spokesperson said Tuesday.

Some conservatives have made transgender issues a focus of attacks and criticism, and some state legislatures have passed legislation about bathrooms. There have also been laws or rules targeting medical care for the trans community.

Bud Light came under fire for its partnership with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney this spring. Weeks after the online campaign, sales of Bud Light continue to plummet.

Some conservatives reacted angrily to the partnership and vowed to buy other brands. Anheuser-Busch’s chief executive said that the brand “never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people.”

Some gay bars in Chicago said they would boycott Bud Light after Anheuser-Busch distanced itself from Mulvaney.

Mulvaney is best known for her “Days of Girlhood” TikTok series and partnered with the Anheuser-Busch during the NCAA’s March Madness basketball tournament.

On May 31, President Joe Biden commemorated Pride Month in a statement in which he criticized “an onslaught of dangerous anti-LGBTQI+ legislation” introduced in states that he said targeted transgender children and their parents.

A baker and a tattoo artist recently garnered TikTok virality other small business owners could only dream of. The only problem? The exposure wasn’t positive. 

Kylie Allen, owner of the West Virginia-based bakery Kylie’s Kakes, posted a video last month about a dispute with a dissatisfied customer over an $84 rainbow sprinkle cake, which spiraled into a controversy users deemed “cakegate.” Weeks later, a TikTok user by the name of Courtney Monteith’s video about a Canada-based tattoo artist charging high design fees turned into “tattoogate.” Videos about these incidents have racked up millions of views on TikTok, with most people showing support for the customer.

These viral sagas, according to marketing experts, highlight the need for businesses to educate themselves about social media marketing and create policies around platforms and managing customer complaints. 

While TikTok has proven to be a powerful tool for small businesses, users on the app can tear businesses down as quickly as they can uplift them, especially when customer complaints — and business owners’ subsequent reactions — go viral. In some instances, such unwanted attention can also result in death threats against the owners, harassment and review bombing.

“As a business, you need to have a policy on how you manage unhappy and dissatisfied customers,” said Angeli Gianchandani, marketing professor at the University of New Haven.

“And, when you identify that and you make good with the consumer, it won’t spiral.”

Sometimes, when it comes to the internet, that may mean refraining from engaging directly with your audience in the wake of sudden backlash. 

On TikTok, a user’s video complaint can be picked up by the algorithm and stretched out for days, oftentimes making it difficult for business owners to manage the backlash. Positive testimonials can get drowned out by one negative review with just one viral post. 

Sometimes, the business owners inadvertently shine the spotlight on their wrongdoings themselves. 

“You might just let it play out, unfortunate as that might be,” said Josh Rosenberg, CEO of Day One Agency, which focuses on digital marketing, public relations and social media.

This doesn’t mean an owner should ignore the feedback. Rather, they should try their best to resolve the customer’s issue privately, and if the criticism continues, it may be best to disengage. 

In Allen’s video, which received over 9 million views, she said her customer “got super defensive and very rude about the price of the cake, although this is exactly how we decorate all of our rainbow cakes.” The customer responded with a video showing the cake, which she said was low quality for the price. 

Many viewers agreed with the customer, which led to discourse over whether Allen was in the wrong for her criticism in the first place. 

Allen declined a request for comment. In an interview with the “Baking For Business Podcast,” she said that she was “ashamed” with how she handled the situation and “would never make another video” like the one that sparked ‘Cakegate.’ 

The controversy ultimately did not hurt Kylie’s Kakes financially, Allen said, because the people weighing in online were not her target customer base in West Virginia.

Still, Rosenberg said, “in business, you should always take the high road.”

“If you are running a small business, you do need to really build those true authentic relationships with your customers and talking negatively about them probably isn’t the best approach,” he said. 

Ultimately, the best thing business owners can do is focus on “creating a product worth advocating for,” Rosenberg said.

Meanwhile, ‘tattoogate’ demonstrated why entrepreneurs should be utilizing social media to partake in the online conversation about their businesses, according to Emma Ferrara, chief business development officer at marketing agency Viral Nation.

“The beauty of social is that people want to get that behind-the-scenes access,” said Ferrara. “They want to be a part of the journey. But with that, I think it’s important to understand that your social platform is there to really help to maintain your company’s reputation.”

Monteith, whose first video complaining about her tattoo experience garnered over 5 million views, said she paid $180 for a consultation with an artist whom she didn’t name. She said she also paid $1,000 for a deposit and $1,500 design fee, an additional charge that other artists say is unconventional in the tattooing industry. 

Monteith, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, said she ended up not getting the tattoo — but was out over $2,600. 

Many users who rallied behind Monteith quickly discovered the name of the artist, who was not on TikTok, as well as the business’ name. The artist did not respond to a request for comment. 

Ferrara said getting on social platforms like TikTok “could also be an opportunity to be really clear about your services and what you charge for and what you don’t, so you don’t have any misunderstandings or anything that’s unclear.”

However, she said, owners should create guidelines for how to conduct themselves online when posting from their business pages.

“Can you perhaps build yourself kind of a do’s and don’ts policy list for yourself?” Ferrera said. “So when you’re posting these things, or when you’re creating your content strategy, it’s something that you can reference and go back to.”

Ferrara added that business owners should maintain the same level of customer service online as they would offline. 

“The customer’s always right, even if they’re not always right,” she said.

Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of the blood-testing lab Theranos, arrived at a federal prison in Texas on Tuesday to start serving an 11-year, 3-month sentence for her role in the fraud that transpired at the now-defunct company.

She was found guilty of four counts of wire fraud in January 2022. Her conviction was the culmination of a saga that began nearly 20 years prior, in 2003, when she dropped out of Stanford University at age 19 to start a company whose technology she hoped could diagnose a multitude of medical conditions with just a pinprick of blood. Over the next decade, Holmes built Theranos into a darling of Silicon Valley, at one point valued at more than $9 billion.

Theranos attracted investments from high-profile moguls, including Rupert Murdoch, the Walton family (heirs to the Walmart fortune) and former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Theranos’ board of directors would grow to include former secretaries of state George Shultz and Henry Kissinger; two former U.S. senators; and former Defense Secretary James Mattis.

Elizabeth Holmes, founder of Theranos Inc., center, arrives at Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Bryan, Texas, on Tuesday.Sergio Flores / Bloomberg via Getty Images

But Theranos’ claims about its capabilities began to crumble following reports, led by then-Wall Street Journal journalist John Carreyrou, that the company’s technology did not appear to work as claimed and that it could deliver faulty results.

By March 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission had charged Holmes, as well as Theranos Chief Operating Officer Ramesh ‘Sunny’ Balwani — who was also romantically linked to Holmes — with securities fraud. At that point, Theranos stripped Holmes of her control of the company and her stake in it. In June 2018, Holmes and Balwani were indicted on federal fraud charges. By the fall of that year, Theranos had announced it would dissolve.

Holmes’ and Balwani’s trials would be postponed by the pandemic until fall 2021. Holmes’ defense largely consisted of claims that she was under the control of Balwani, an argument Balwani subsequently denied. Holmes also argued that she had not sought to mislead investors.

The jury rejected most of Holmes’ arguments and delivered a guilty verdict. In fall 2022, Holmes and Balwani, who had also been found guilty, were sentenced. Experts say Balwani got a harsher sentence — nearly 13 years in prison — because of his experience running other businesses.

Along the way, various motions for appeals and delays were largely denied. Holmes, now 39, recently gave birth to her second child.

She will report to a minimum-security facility in Texas. Balwani, 57, began serving his sentence in April in California.

In a recent New York Times profile, Holmes indicated she still harbored ambitions to work in the medical technology industry.

“I still dream about being able to contribute in that space,” Holmes said. “I still feel the same calling to it as I always did and I still think the need is there.”

Amazon.com’s doorbell camera unit Ring has reached a settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission regarding privacy, according to a filing Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

As part of the agreement, Ring is to pay $5.8 million, according to a filing.

Amazon.com did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The FTC said Ring gave employees unrestricted access to customers’ sensitive video data said “as a result of this dangerously overbroad access and lax attitude toward privacy and security, employees and third-party contractors were able to view, download, and transfer customers’ sensitive video data for their own purposes.”

As part of the FTC agreement with Ring, which is good for 20 years, Ring is required to disclose to customers how much access to their data the company and its contractors have.

In February 2019, Ring changed its access practices so that most Ring employees or contractors could only access a customer’s private video with that person’s consent.

Some of Adidas’ remaining Yeezy shoes are back on sale — months after the German sportswear company cut ties with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West.

Adidas ended its yearslong partnership with Ye in late October, in light of his antisemitic remarks and other harmful behavior. In the months that followed, the fate of $1.3 billion worth of unsold Yeezys remained unknown — until earlier this month, when Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden announced the company would be selling a portion of the remaining inventory and donating some of the proceeds to social justice organizations.

The first batch of Adidas’ remaining Yeezys went on sale Wednesday. At this time, the sneakers appear to be available through Adidas’ app “Confirmed,” according to the retailer’s website. Part of the profits will be donated to organizations including the Anti-Defamation League and the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change, Adidas says.

Kanye West at Milk Studios in Los Angeles on June 28, 2016.Jonathan Leibson / Getty Images for ADIDAS file

Wednesday’s release marks the first time that Adidas has sold Yeezys since the partnership termination in October. The Yeezy products up for sale include already-existing designs as well as those that were initiated in 2022 and set to be released in 2023, Adidas previously noted.

“We believe (selling and donating these Yeezys) is the best solution as it respects the created designs and produced shoes, it works for our people, resolves an inventory problem, and will have a positive impact in our communities,” Gulden said in an May 19 statement.

At a May 11 annual shareholder meeting, Gulden explained the company made the decision to sell and donate Yeezys after speaking with nongovernmental organizations and groups that were harmed by Ye’s comments and actions.

Some details of Adidas’ plans are still unclear — including how many Yeezys will eventually go on sale and what portion of sales will be donated. The Associated Press reached out to Adidas for further information Wednesday.

Yeezy shoes made by Adidas at Laced Up, a sneaker resale store in Paramus, N.J., on Oct. 25. Seth Wenig / AP file

Cutting ties with Ye cost Adidas hundreds of millions of dollars — contributing to a loss of $655 million in sales for the last three months of 2022, which helped drive the company to a quarterly net loss of 513 million euros.

Adidas reported $441 million in lost sales at the start of 2023, the company announced this month.

Net sales declined 1% in the first quarter, to 5.27 billion euros, the company said. It reported a net loss of 24 million euros, a plunge from a profit of 310 million euros in the same period a year ago.

Operating profit, which excludes some items like taxes, was down to 60 million euros from 437 million euros a year earlier.

Meanwhile, investors also filed a class-action lawsuit against Adidas in late April, alleging the company knew about offensive remarks and harmful behavior from Ye years before terminating its pact with him. Adidas has pushed back on the allegations.

About 90% of Spirit Airlines flights were delayed Thursday amid a technical issue affecting the carrier’s website.

In a tweet posted at 8:43 a.m., Spirit said the issue was affecting Spirit.com, the Spirit Airlines app and its airport kiosks, leading to delays.

In an emailed statement at 10:44 a.m., a Spirit spokesman said the issue had been resolved.

‘We have resolved a network issue between third party services that affected our website, mobile app and some internal applications,’ the airline said in a follow-up email. ‘We apologize for any delays and inconvenience, and we’re now working our way back to normal operations.’

According to the flight-tracking site Pulse by Anuvu, fewer than 24% of Spirit flights were departing on time at 10:30 a.m. Thursday.

By about noon, the figure had increased to nearly 90% — with more than 3% of flights canceled.

The glitch represents a worrisome start to the summer travel season as the U.S. airline industry seeks to avoid repeating the turmoil of last year, when carriers were hobbled by delays and cancellations.

And it comes just as the Transportation Security Administration reported that 2023 screening volumes have surpassed 2019 levels — putting even more pressure on airlines to meet booming demand.

In a pre-Memorial Day interview, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg warned, ‘We’re not out of the woods.’

‘We have seen demand come roaring back for air travel — and the system has struggled to keep up,’ he said.

Walmart on Wednesday said it has not made any changes to its LGBTQ-related merchandise tied to Pride Month, or to security measures in place at its stores, a week after rival Target pulled some LGBTQ-themed products following customer backlash.

“We haven’t changed anything in our assortment,” Latriece Watkins, Walmart’s chief merchandising officer, said.

Last week, Target pulled some Pride-related merchandise, including items by transgender designer Erik Carnell, saying the products led to “volatile circumstances,” such as confrontations between customers and Target employees, and customers throwing Pride merchandise on the floor.

Walmart also offers LGBTQ-themed merchandise tied to Pride Month, which is celebrated in June, including rainbow-adorned flags, clothing and accessories. Its “Pride & Joy” collection includes a $7.98 set of enamel pins with messages such as “Be you. Be Proud.” and “You are enough.”

Walmart’s Watkins said the retailer hasn’t changed its security measures in response to the confrontations Target cited at its own stores, adding that Walmart hasn’t seen similar issues.

“In this particular case, when we think about security … we have not done anything in particular differently related to security in our stores,” Watkins said.

The U.S. economy continued to crank out jobs in May, with nonfarm payrolls surging more than expected despite multiple headwinds, the Labor Department reported Friday.

Payrolls in the public and private sector increased by 339,000 for the month, better than the 190,000 Dow Jones estimate and marking the 29th straight month of positive job growth.

The unemployment rate rose to 3.7% in May against the estimate for 3.5%, even though the labor force participation rate was unchanged. The jobless rate was the highest since October 2022, though still near the lowest since 1969.

Average hourly earnings, a key inflation indicator, rose 0.3% for the month, which was in line with expectations. On an annual basis, wages increased 4.3%, which was 0.1 percentage point below the estimate. The average workweek fell by 0.1 hour to 34.3 hours.

Markets reacted positively to the report, with futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average up about 200 points. Treasury yields rose as well.

May’s hiring jump was almost exactly in line with the 12-month average of 341,000 in a job market that has held up remarkably well in an economy that has been slowing.

Professional and business services led job creation for the month with a net 64,000 new hires. The government helped boost the numbers with an addition of 56,000 jobs, while health care contributed 52,000.

Other notable gainers included leisure and hospitality (48,000), construction (25,000) and transportation and warehousing (24,000).

May’s job numbers come amid a challenging time for the economy, with many experts still expecting a recession later this year or early in 2024.

Recent data has shown that consumers continue to spend, though they are dipping into savings and increasingly using credit cards to pay for their purchases. A resilient labor market also has helped underpin spending, with job openings rising back above 10 million in April as employers still find it difficult to fill open positions.

One major potential headache appears to have been eliminated, as warring factions in Washington this week have reached a debt ceiling deal. An agreement is on its way to President Joe Biden’s desk for a signature following passage in the House and Senate this week.

There remain other issues ahead, though.

The Federal Reserve has raised benchmark interest rates 10 times since March 2022 in an effort to fight inflation that hasn’t gone away. In recent days, some policymakers have indicated a willingness to take a break in June from the succession of hikes as they look to see what impact the policy tightening is having on the economy.

Other data points have shown that the manufacturing sector of the economy is in contraction, though the much larger services sector has held in expansion. The ISM manufacturing index released Thursday also showed that prices are pulling back, a positive sign for the Fed.