Brain-computer interfaces, an emerging technology, provide a direct link between the human mind and devices.
BrainCo
Elon Musk’s Neuralink, which uses implants in people’s heads to compensate for disabilities, has become the poster child for so-called brain-computer interfaces (BCI). But some companies are betting that consumer neural technology won’t require opening the skull at all.
BCI works by processing brain signals and translating them into commands, allowing external devices to be controlled by thought.
Funding for startups in this area represents only a fraction of the capital invested in artificial intelligence. But interest in this nascent field is growing as companies achieve milestones, such as allowing people with degenerative diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), to type on keyboards or play video games using brain signals.
AI is an enabler that enhances signal processing capabilities. Some in the industry one day envision a further breakthrough: using the mind to control or connect to AI and robots.
This technology raises the stakes in the rivalry between the United States and China. The Chinese government included BCI as a strategic “industry of the future” in its latest five-year plan. Regulators recently approved what officials call the world’s first minimally invasive BCI device for commercial use, developed by Neuracle Medical Technology to regain some hand function after spinal cord injuries.
While companies such as China’s StairMed and NeuroXess are making progress in the implant space, the non-invasive field is gaining momentum – from Sam Altman-backed Merge Labs to China’s Gestala, both pursuing ultrasound-based approaches.
BrainCo, one of the “six little dragons” of tech startups in the eastern city of Hangzhou, makes prosthetics and wearable devices using BCI technology.
Rui Ma, founder of research and media platform Tech Buzz China, said that while current proven applications of BCI can significantly improve the quality of life of severely disabled patients, the much bigger market likely lies in increasing human capabilities.
But she added: “I don’t think anyone is close to realizing that… The increase seems like science fiction at this point.”
A roadmap for brain technologyFounded in 2015 and spun out of Harvard Innovation Labs, BrainCo planted its flag on the non-invasive side.
Implanted and non-invasive approaches are different paths to different problems, BrainCo partner and senior vice president Nyx He told CNBC in a recent interview. Some conditions can only be treated by getting into the brain, she said, but BrainCo believes that many others – especially where drugs are not enough – can be treated by non-invasive methods that are easier to accept and access, at lower risk and lower cost.
The company’s bionic hands, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, read an amputee’s neural and muscle electrical signals and translate the intended movements into finger movements. Its wearable devices include a sleep aid that BrainCo says uses low-intensity electrical pulses to stimulate neurochemicals associated with stress relief.
BrainCo raised 2 billion yuan ($280 million) in a funding round co-led by IDG Capital and Walden International, the venture capital firm founded by Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan.
BrainCo’s bionic hands process brain signals and translate intended movements into commands.
CNBC
According to He, the main challenge with non-invasive methods is acquiring and decoding brain signals, which are subtle and noisy when read from outside the skull. BrainCo developed a dry electrode sensor to capture the signals and an AI algorithm to decode them.
He laid out the company’s roadmap in stages: starting with those who need the technology most, such as amputees in insurance-covered markets; expand to medical conditions like ADHD and depression; then target the mass market with consumer electronics.
Eventually, BrainCo plans to license its BCI platform to other companies making brain technology products – a business it expects will become the company’s primary source of revenue.
The startup’s project echoes emerging thinking at the national level. In a commentary published this week by state media, a Chinese Academy of Sciences researcher specializing in non-invasive BCIs charted a similar trajectory: from near-term medical applications to uses in autonomous driving and smart manufacturing, and ultimately to mass consumer products.
From science fiction hype to commercial realityInvestors are divided on the best technological approach. But most agree that the real test is whether companies can create products that offer clear improvements — and that consumers will pay for.
Some say that only implants can be effective. “Noninvasive is like trying to capture light in distant galaxies,” said Alex Zhavoronkov, CEO of biotechnology company Insilico Medicine.
Others see promise in emerging non-implemented techniques. Thomas Tsao, co-founder of Gobi Partners, a venture capital firm that invested in Gestala, said ultrasound-based approaches offer a more holistic view of the brain without surgical risk.
Growing investments could help the industry reach a tipping point, Tsao said, but added that the final size of the market is virtually impossible to quantify, with many future use cases difficult to imagine today.
Jefferies, in a July 8 report, said that invasive implants and ultrasound-based methods represent the “most promising” frontiers, noting that conventional non-invasive systems remain limited by the clarity with which they can capture and interpret brain signals. But the bank added that BrainCo’s proprietary sensors, AI decoding algorithm and commercialization history give the company an advantage.
Industry players say the best approach depends on the use case: recording or stimulating brain activity, intended for patients or consumers, used briefly or continuously, targeting superficial or deep regions of the brain, and how much load users are willing to bear.
The Silicon Valley versus China strategy manualIf American neurotechnology is financed by billionaires, that of China benefits from the support of the central government.
In Beijing, seven ministries jointly released an implementation plan for the BCI industry in August last year, targeting key technological advancements by 2027. In June, the Anhui provincial government released an action plan to accelerate the development of BCI in research, production and industrialization.
Some startups in China, facing pressure from state-linked or risk-averse backers to show revenue, have turned to selling equipment or consumer products, said Tech Buzz China’s Ma, while U.S. investors prefer the “gamble to change the world.”
For now, China’s BCI market is taking off first in the area of non-invasive rehabilitation technologies, Jefferies said, which face lower regulatory and clinical barriers.
“China has now integrated the BCI into its industrial policy apparatus,” said Paul Triolo, partner at consultancy DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group. “Beijing is not just thinking about revolutionary technology, but about the entire supply chain.”
BrainCo, founded in 2015, manufactures prosthetics and wearable devices using BCI technology and research.
CNBC
The country’s focus is also broader, he said, ranging from stroke rehabilitation to prosthetics to cognitive assessment.
This coordination extends to hospitals and universities. Shanghai has partnered BCI startups with Huashan Hospital, expanding access to patients and neurosurgeons. Chinese health authorities also created a separate insurance category for BCI last year, which experts say could help expand the technology.
Like AI and semiconductors before it, BCI – with its sensitivities around intimate personal data and privacy – could become a geopolitical flashpoint as it matures. Performance-enhancing uses also raise ethical considerations.
BrainCo’s He said the company does not collect customer data, which is stored on users’ devices, not transmitted to the cloud and erased after each use. Information such as concentration scores could also be recorded locally on concentration training devices, he said.
Asked about the tensions between the two global technological powers, she dismissed politics.
He said the company’s goal is to provide solutions to those who need them, whether in China or the United States. “I don’t think I’ll stop at the borders for that. »
