China has approved a slew of brain-computer interface devices this year, showering domestic startups with state subsidies in a bid to compete with Elon Musk’s Neuralink.
China has identified BCIs, which promise to restore motor functions and cognitive capacity in patients, as one of six “industries of the future” for driving growth — a push made more urgent by the country’s aging population: Cases of age-related neurological disorders have jumped 42% since 1990, reaching 468 million in 2021.
Beijing has notched recent breakthroughs. In July, a Chinese firm completed the world’s first commercial BCI implant. Still, one leading state-backed firm acknowledged this year that its tech was still “about three years” behind Neuralink.