Last week, at a technology event in Beijing, a Chinese company revealed a new brain-computer interface. This interface lets a monkey control a robotic arm just by thinking about it.
In a video from the event, a monkey, with its hands tied, uses the interface to move a robotic arm and grab a strawberry.
This system was made by NeuCyber NeuroTech and the Chinese Institute for Brain Research. It uses soft electrode filaments implanted in the brain, as reported by state-run news media outlet Xinhua.
In the US, scientists have tried similar systems with paralyzed individuals. These systems similarly help them to control robotic arms.
US-China Race to Create Brain-Computer Interfaces
Brain-computer interfaces, known as BCIs, gather and study brain signals. They’re often used to directly control things like robotic arms, keyboards, or smartphones.
In the US, several startups, including Elon Musk’s Neuralink, are working to make this technology available for everyone.
William Hannas, the main analyst at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), said that China is rapidly closing the gap with the US in terms of its BCI technology.
Hannas notes that China is highly driven in this field, stating, “They’re strongly motivated.” He believes they’re at the forefront of this technology, matching or even surpassing others worldwide.
Traditionally, China has been behind the US in invasive BCIs, which are implanted in or on the brain. Instead, they focused on noninvasive technology worn on the head. However, China is now making quick progress in implantable interfaces, especially for medical purposes, as reported by WIRED.
“China is not the least bit shy” about BCIs
Some Western analysts are concerned about China’s focus on noninvasive BCIs for everyday use. Hannas, who co-wrote a report released in March, sheds light on Chinese research in this area.
“China is not the least bit shy about this,” he says, pointing to ethical guidelines issued by the Communist Party in February 2024. These guidelines include improving the cognitive abilities of healthy individuals through BCI research as one of China’s goals.
A translation of the guidelines by CSET states, “Nonmedical purposes such as attention modulation, sleep regulation, memory regulation, and exoskeletons for augmentative BCI technologies should be explored and developed to a certain extent, provided there is strict regulation and clear benefit.”
These nonmedical applications involve wearable BCIs that use electrodes on the scalp, called electroencephalography or EEG devices. However, signals from the scalp are trickier to understand compared to those directly from the brain, according to WIRED.
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