China Just Performed the World’s First Implant of a Commercial Brain-Computer Interface

China is determined to become a global leader in the burgeoning market for brain-computer interfaces, or BCIs. This week, it took a big step towards achieving that goal. Multiple Chinese news outlets reported on Wednesday that Chinese neurotechnology firm Neuracle (also known as Borui Kang Medical Technology) had performed the world’s first successful surgical implant of a commercial BCI in the brain of a patient who’d lost mobility in his hand following a spinal cord injury a decade ago. The device—called Neural Electronic Opportunity, or NEO—is roughly the size of a coin. It contains eight electrodes and is surgically implanted onto the surface of the brain’s sensorimotor cortex, where it records electrical signals fired between neurons as a patient imagines moving their hand. It then sends those signals to a computer, which translates them into motor signals enacted by a robotic glove worn by a patient. NEO was approved by China’s National Medical Products Association in March, making it the first invasive BCI to be given the thumbs-up for commercial use by a national regulatory agency. It’s a big win for Neuracle as it ramps up its competition with Elon Musk’s Neuralink. In 202