However, after the malfunction of his fusion reactor, the tentacles became fused to his spine, and the inhibitor chip was destroyed.ĭue to the loss of the inhibitor chip, the tentacles realized that they gained free will as they used their ability to manipulate Octavius. The tentacles are controlled through a metal harness and Octavius protected his higher brain function with a Neural Inhibitor Chip.

To help him perform a sustained fusion experiment, Otto Octavius developed a set of artificially intelligent mechanical arms, designed to allow a high degree of precision and agility necessary for the experiment.

'So the chip in the back of Doc's neck was designed to protect his brain from the AI system that's controlling these tentacles, but if you look here, the chip is fried.' ― Peter Parker to Norman Osborn