The race for control of the brain. Beijing may overtake Washington

China are accelerating in the race for supremacy in brain-computer interface technology (so-called BCI) and there are more and more voices that this will happen in the coming years may overtake the USA. All thanks to strong state support and growing investor interest. One of the most famous examples is the company NeuroXesswhich it managed to carry out just a few years after its inception successful human trials.

According to available information There are already about ten clinical research programs on invasive BCI in the Middle Kingdom. The goal is to create two or three world-class companies by 2030. NeuroXess is increasingly mentioned as one of the main candidates for this role.

The Chinese start-up founded in 2021 has already managed to present the results of its work. One of the paralyzed patients was able to control the computer cursor thanks to the implant. Importantly, the use of the system has started just five days after surgery.

It is worth emphasizing that the race is not only about invasive implants. In the long run the goal is to improve technology to make surgical procedures less complicated or even unnecessary. In China, this is facilitated by the economy of scale – more data means lower costs, more users and more data to analyze.

Interestingly, NeuroXess uses a polyimide and metal mesh that it is deposited on the surface of the brain, without penetrating its tissue. This is a different concept than the one used by the American one Neuralinkwhich uses thin threads inserted directly into the brain to record neural signals.