Chinese brain chip project speeds up human trials after first success

A TIE-UP between a Chinese research institute and tech company said on Monday that it aims to implant its brain chip into 13 people by the end of this year, in a move that could see it overtake Elon Musk's Neuralink in collecting patient data.

- EDUARDO BAPTISTA

The Beijing-based Chinese Institute for Brain Research (CIBR) and NeuCyber NeuroTech has inserted Beinao No.1, a semi-invasive wireless brain chip, into three patients in the past month and has 10 more lined up for this year, said Luo Minmin, who is director of CIBR and NeuCyber's chief scientist.

State-owned NeuCyber has ambitions for an even larger trial.

"Next year after getting regulatory approval we will do formal clinical trials that will include around 50 patients," Luo told reporters on the sidelines of the tech-focused Zhongguancun Forum in Beijing. He did not elaborate on funding or the length of the trials.