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China has engineered its own version of a Neuralink-like brain chip and has used it to show that a monkey can maneuver a robotic arm using only its thoughts, Reuters reports Thursday, citing China-backed news source Xinhua.
The monkey with the Neucyber brain-computer interface (BCI) implant was physically restrained and able to get a robotic arm to hold a strawberry, according to the report. China's Neucyber chip was developed by Beijing Xinzhida Neurotechnology and announced at the Zhongguancun Forum in Beijing Thursday, which will continue until Monday next week.
"The BCI involves capturing subtle changes in brain electrical signals, decoding brain intentions, and achieving 'thought' control of 'actions,' allowing the control of machines without physical contact," said Tsinghua University professor Luo Minmin, who works at the university's Institute for Brain Research, in an English-version report from China's state-backed news outlet Global Times.
The Neucyber chip consists of flexible microelectrodes, two "neural signal acquisition devices," and a "generative neural decoding algorithm," the outlet reports. Unlike Neuralink, which has begun human trials and whose first human patient is able to play games like Civilization VI and Mario Kart, China has not yet started testing its Neucyber implant on humans, Reuters notes.
Back in February, Global Times reported that Tsinghua University implanted a different BCI chip, the Neural Electronic Opportunity (NEO), in a quadriplegic human patient. NEO has since allowed the patient to drink water using a specialized glove on his hand, the outlet claims. China also opened a new lab dedicated to brain-machine interaction research last year, and the country's government confirmed this year that developing brain interface tech remains a priority.
In the US, Neuralink is now testing a "Blindsight" implant in monkeys with the ultimate goal of offering blind people a new way to "see." The Blindsight implant is being designed to simulate the real world in real-time. According to Neuralink Founder Elon Musk, Blindsight's "resolution" will be low at first, but may improve over time and could even surpass normal human vision in the future.