China Establishes Brain-Computer Interface Industry

­Get your popcorn – we ’ve embarked on a new technology race with China. And while brain-computer interfaces (BCI) aren’t quite as sexy as the space race, they’re arguably more practical.

Last month, Beijing authorities established their homegrown BCI industry, with aims of achieving “key technological breakthroughs” in the industry by 2027 and the establishment of “advanced technology, industry and standards systems.”

While BCI has a number of potential applications – China specifically calls out industrial manufacturing, health care, and consumption – perhaps its most promising function involves restoring mobility or interactive capabilities for paraplegics.

The latter appears to be the main focus of Elon Musk’s Neuralink, a neurotechnology company developing implantable BCI.

In March of 2024, and after extensive (and controversial) animal testing, Neuralink conducted its first human trial, implanting their chip in 29-year-old paraplegic Noland Arbaugh.

As a result of the procedure, Arbaugh was able to control a computer cursor and play certain games with his mind, though 85% of the device's implant threads subsequently became detached. The second human trial, with “Alex”, didn’t have the same disconnection issues.

China may have been late to the BCI game, but they’re quickly catching up to, and even surpassing the U.S. Take the Shanghai-based NeuroXess, which has apparently implanted six human patients, and according to Wired, the device allowed the participants to either decode Chinese speech or exercise thought control of digital devices.

Referring to China’s new guidelines, Phoenix Peng, cofounder and CEO of NeuroXess, said that “The Chinese government has always been supportive of disruptive technologies. I think, from the government’s point of view, this policy means that BCI technology has already passed from a concept level into the product level.”

Indeed, by 2030, China aims to “strengthen its BCI innovation capabilities significantly, establish a safe and reliable industrial ecosystem, and cultivate two to three globally influential leading enterprises.”