TCS | Meet the CHIPendales – South Africa’s biohacker duo

Loading player...
In this special episode of the TechCentral Show (TCS) – presented by MTN Business – Duncan McLeod chats to two South African biohackers, Daniel de Kock and Jarryd Bekker, about why they have voluntarily installed microchips in their bodies.
Respectively the chief technology officer and CEO of Riot Network – the wireless broadband specialist that is building low-cost networks in underserviced areas, including Olievenhoutbosch in Gauteng – they tell TechCentral about why they chose to implant the chips and what they’re used for.
The pair, who both profess a desire to receive brain implants from Elon Musk’s Neuralink, explain how they started augmenting their biological bodies with electronics, what’s involved, the information they’re able to glean from the chips, and where the fusion of human biology and electronics is headed over the coming decade.
In the interview, Bekker and De Kock unpack how electronic circuitry in the human body can help detect and manage serious health issues, and the impact this could have on fighting disease and prolonging people’s lives.
The two discuss a range of issues related to biohacking, including:
• What’s involved when it’s time to upgrade the chips;
• How one goes about having them installed;
• The growing online biohacker community;
• Integration with artificial intelligence; and
• Much more.
Don’t miss this offbeat but fascinating discussion!
17 Apr 2024 English South Africa Technology · Business

Other recent episodes

TCS | Piet le Roux on Sakeliga's fight with Icasa over BEE

Business group Sakeliga is taking Icasa to court over the 30% ownership rule for telecoms licensees, and its CEO, Piet le Roux, says the regulator has "clearly misunderstood" the law. In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Le Roux tells Duncan McLeod why Sakeliga has asked the high court in…
13 Nov 19 min

W&W | AA’s Bobby Ramagwede on a car industry running out of road

AA CEO Bobby Ramagwede tells Watts & Wheels that South Africa’s car manufacturing industry could be decimated within five years. Is South Africa’s car manufacturing industry running out of road? Automobile Association (AA) CEO Bobby Ramagwede thinks it might be. In this episode of Watts & Wheels, he tells William…
12 Nov 30 min

TCS | Pick n Pay fights back in online grocery wars

Pick n Pay will keep Smart Shopper Pro, its new paid loyalty tier, at its R99/month launch price "for a very extended period", says Vince Viviers, executive: innovation and digital transformation at the retailer. If the price does change, customers will be told well in advance, "so that there are…
11 Nov 27 min

TCS | Nomvuyiso Batyi on the battle over Sim registration

South Africa’s mobile operators want tougher Sim registration, but not on the terms communications regulator Icasa has proposed. Draft amendments to Icasa’s numbering plan regulations, published for comment last month, would require a fingerprint or face check against home affairs records for every new Sim, reactivation and Sim swap. Subscribers…
9 Nov 33 min

TCS+ | Old Mutual's Celiwe Ross on leading people through AI

AI is the defining technology of our era. At one extreme, it fuels fears of job losses, robot wars and computers ruling over human beings. At the other, it holds out hope: curing diseases such as cancer, bolstering global food security and even freeing people from the need to work…
6 Nov 36 min