Speaking of BCI, there are startups intent on implanting thousands of nanoscale sensors directly in the brain to gather copious amounts of data directly.
Curiously and coincidentally, I bought several of Ted's writings recently. I think he has some salient points but without colleagues, he fell in love with his "solo-founder crazy ideas," effectively delusions that couldn't be realized by his methods. If he had others around to temper his thinking rather than retreating completely from civilization, he might've had a chance to make a positive and constructive impact rather than causing random, impotent harm.