As Elon Musk’s Neuralink continues to make headlines for surgically implanted brain chips, China’s emerging rivals are taking a different route and betting that the future of brain-computer interfaces (BCI) will not need opening the skull at all. According to a report by CNBC, the Chinese government has designated BCI as ‘future industry’ in its latest Five-Year Plan, signalling national-level support for neural technology.

Interest in brain-computer interfaces is rising as it promises to help people with compromised neural abilities.

BrainCo reads the brain through the scalp, not with implants. It is easier to scale than Neuralink, and much harder to regulate.