Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony of Tesla Shanghai gigafactory in Shanghai, east China, Jan. 7, 2019. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)

Neuralink received a "Breakthrough Device" designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in July, and is "preparing for first human implantation soon, pending required approvals and further safety testing," Elon Musk said.

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 29  -- Neuralink, Elon Musk's brain-machine interface company, demonstrated its technology and device implanted in live pigs on Friday.

"The main purpose is to convince great people to come work at Neuralink and help us bring the product to fruition, make it affordable and reliable and such that anyone who wants one can have one," Musk said during the demo while presenting a coin-sized wireless device.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO brought three pigs to the demonstration. One pig was untreated, the second had been installed with a Neuralink device called the "Link" for two months. The third pig had previously had one device installed but then removed in order to show the safety and replaceability of the technology.

Musk stressed that the third pig showed the feasibility to provide updates to the hardware over time as better versions become available.

He noted that Neuralink had changed the design since last year to make the physical device small enough to be hidden under hair after being installed in the skull.

Musk then demonstrated a display that could play a sound and show a visual spike when the device detected the pig with the "Link" touch something with its snout.