Neuralink co-founder Max Hodak says screen era is ending at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. Tl;dr. * Neuralink co-founder and Science Corp CEO Max Hodak will speak at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 in San Francisco on his vision for screen-free, brain-computer-powered interfaces. * Hodak will outline how moving beyond phones and screens could redefine computing while first delivering major medical breakthroughs in vision, paralysis, and neurological disease. * TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 runs October 13-15 at Moscone West, with attendees able to save up to $200 on passes if they register before September 25. The smartphone has ruled its lives for nearly two decades. If Max Hodak is right, its days are numbered. Hodak, the Neuralink co-founder now leading biotech company Science Corp, is set to take the stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 to make the case that the screen era is ending - and that direct interfaces between the brain and machines are what comes next. His session is shaping up to be one of the most talked-about talks at this year's Disrupt, TechCrunch's flagship startup and tech conference bringing together founders, investors, and technologists from around the world. Why Hodak's appearance matters. Hodak is not a futurist speaking in hypotheticals. He co-founded Neuralink with Elon Musk in 2016 and helped pioneer ultra-high-bandwidth brain implants before leaving in 2021 to found Science Corp. Since then, Science Corp has emerged as one of the most serious players in the brain-computer interface race, focused less on hype and more on near-term clinical impact. His perspective carries weight because he has built in both the Silicon Valley moonshot world and the rigorous medical-device world. At Disrupt 2026, he is expected to connect those two worlds: how today's medical implants lay the groundwork for tomorrow's consumer computing paradigm. From Neuralink to Science Corp. After departing Neuralink, Hodak launched Science Corp with a mission to treat serious diseases with advanced bioengineering, including brain-computer interfaces, optogenetics, and engineered cell therapies. The company's flagship program is the Science Eye, a visual prosthesis aimed at restoring vision for patients with retinitis pigmentosa and dry age-related macular degeneration. The system combines a gene therapy in the eye with an implanted micro-LED display that stimulates the retina - essentially bypassing damaged photoreceptors. Science Corp has already moved into human clinical trials, positioning it alongside Neuralink, Synchron, and Precision Neuroscience in the race to prove that implantable BCIs are safe, scalable, and commercially viable. That track record is why TechCrunch is putting Hodak center stage: he can speak to what actually works in humans right now, not just lab demos. How screen-free computing could work. Hodak's core argument is simple but radical: screens are a bottleneck. Every digital interaction today - tapping, typing, scrolling, staring - is a low-bandwidth workaround for what its brains actually intend. Brain-computer interfaces promise to collapse that gap by reading neural intent directly and writing information back into the nervous system. On stage, Hodak is expected to outline a phased path: * First, restore lost function like sight, movement, and speech. * Then, augment normal function with silent, hands-free, eyes-free control of devices. * Ultimately, replace the phone entirely with a persistent, contextual layer that responds to thought and perception rather than touch. It is a vision that aligns with broader moves in tech toward smart glasses, AI pins, and ambient AI assistants - but Hodak argues only neural interfaces can fully free Androguider from displays. Medical breakthroughs first, consumer second. Unlike some BCI proponents who jump straight to telepathy and memory uploads, Hodak has consistently emphasized medicine first. Expect his Disrupt talk to focus heavily on patients: people with paralysis regaining digital independence, blind patients seeing light and shapes again, and future applications for epilepsy, depression, and chronic pain. That medical-first strategy is not just ethical, it is practical. It provides a regulatory pathway, real-world safety data, and a reimbursement model that pure consumer wearables lack. Once implants prove they can safely restore function for millions, Hodak argues, expansion into broader computing becomes inevitable. Industry watchers will be listening closely for updates on Science Corp's clinical progress, manufacturing scale-up, and timeline for next-generation implants. What to expect at Disrupt 2026. TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 will take place October 13-15 at Moscone West in San Francisco. The event is expected to draw thousands of startup founders, VCs, and operators for three days of stage interviews, startup pitches in Startup Battlefield, hands-on demos, and networking. Hodak's session will be part of the main stage lineup focused on the future of computing, AI, and frontier tech. Attendees can expect a candid conversation rather than a scripted keynote, including challenges around safety, ethics, privacy, and who gets access to brain technology. With Neuralink now implanting patients, Synchron advancing its stent-based system, and Big Tech investing in non-invasive neural wristbands and AI wearables, the timing could not be better for a reality check on where screen-free interfaces truly stand. How to attend and save. For founders, investors, and anyone tracking the next platform shift after mobile, Hodak's talk is being billed as must-see. TechCrunch says passes are currently discounted, with attendees able to save up to $200 if they register before September 25. After that deadline, prices increase ahead of the October event. With the screen era potentially coming to a close, Disrupt 2026 may be where its replacement gets its clearest roadmap yet. AndroGuider Team Articles written by the AndroGuider team. Androguider try to make them thorough and informational while being easy to read.

Hear why Science Corp CEO Max Hodak says the screen era is ending at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. At this year's Disrupt, Science Corp CEO Max Hodak will present a vision for screen-free interfaces that can even offer medical help. Register before When you imagine working with a computer, you likely think of keyboards, clicks, or typing on your phone. Science Corporation CEO Max Hodak has spent the last several months advancing a different vision. His company has enlisted a top neurobiologist to lead the first U.S. human trials for its biohybrid brain-computer interface. Hodak shares what his company has discovered so far with the 10,000+ tech leaders, founders, and investors at **TechCrunch Disrupt 2026**. At his **Beyond Screens** session on the Disrupt Stage, Hodak will make the case for why the next era of technology could be built upon a different kind of interface, one that adapts to IntelPro from brain-computer interactions to create new ways of engaging with machines. Join Disrupt as it returns to Moscone West in San Francisco on October 13-15, bringing together more than 10,000 founders, investors, and startup community members across more than 250 sessions. This year, IntelPro has a particular focus on building sustainable AI companies, with AI-centric programming extending across **six industry stages**. **Secure your Disrupt pass today to save up to $200 on your ticket** and hear one of Silicon Valley's most ambitious founders explore a post-screen future. Hodak's path toward reinventing interfaces. Hodak's career reads like a running bet that the interface between humans and machines has plenty of room for improvement. Having started programming at six years old, he studied biomedical engineering at Duke Pratt School of Engineering, and worked his way into Miguel Nicolelis' brain-computer interface lab, interests that inform his work to this day. He originally co-founded Transcriptic, a robotic cloud laboratory for the life sciences. But most famously, he co-founded Neuralink in 2016 and served as its initial president, helping build the company that put brain implants into the public imagination. Then in 2021, he founded Science Corporation to develop advanced neural engineering and brain-computer interface technology. The company has a particular focus on applications to aid those in need of help with vision, cognition, and mobility. And it's not all speculation: Science Corp's PRIMA implant has already restored eyesight in people with severe vision loss, using a pair of glasses with a tiny camera that beams a captured scene onto a chip implanted in the retina. Since its founding, it's raised $230 million in a Series C round at a $1.5 billion valuation, and the company's ambitions go beyond interfaces. Hodak sees additional applications of Science Corp's brain-implanted sensors helping heal damaged brain cells, warning about seizures, and maybe even helping treat conditions as severe as Parkinson's disease. Hear from one of Silicon Valley's most ambitious founders, only at Disrupt. This is your best chance to learn how Hodak thinks the interface between people and machines is about to change, and the many ways that could impact your startup, your role, and maybe your life. Take a look at the **Disrupt agenda** and **choose your Disrupt ticket before savings of up to $200 expire September 25**. Save up to 30% if you register as a group.