China’s Brain Implant Beats Elon Musk’s Neuralink In Race To The Market

Elon Musk lost the race to market, with a Shanghai-based startup launching its brain chip technology to the public ahead of Neuralink. 

China’s drug regulator, the National Medical Products Administration, recently approved Neuracle Technology’s brain implant beyond clinical trials, according to multiple reports. Like Musk’s Neuralink, the coin-size brain implant — called NEO — is designed to help patients who are paralyzed due to spinal cord injuries. 

One of Neuracle Technology’s patients, Dong Hui, was recently profiled by MIT Technology Review. After 11 months of using the device, Dong is now able to write his name despite suffering a spinal cord injury in a car accident six years ago. Before receiving the implant, Dong could barely move his arms and was unable to use his fingers at all.

NEO sensors are placed on the outside membrane of Dong’s brain, where the signals are transmitted by a connected computer implant that rests on Dong’s skull. Those signals then move a robotic glove on Dong’s hand, which helps his hand relearn how to accept signals from his brain. 

“On the ninth day of my training, my right hand successfully grabbed a ball without the glove,” Dong told MIT. “That was a miraculous moment.” Dong was one of 36 subjects who had clinical trials conducted with NEO, with 32 of them occurring in the past year. 

A revolutionary technology in its own right, Neuracle Technology has also broken new ground in its rollout under China’s national health insurance system. China is doubling down on its ambition to become the global leader in brain-computer interfaces with the government identifying the technology as one of six strategic sectors critical to the country’s future alongside quantum technology, biomanufacturing, hydrogen and nuclear fusion power, artificial intelligence, and 6G mobile communications. The global brain-computer interface market is projected to reach $1.7 billion by 2035.

According to an Australian researcher, one reason Neuracle Technology may have outpaced competing brain-computer interfaces is its less invasive design. While Neuralink’s implant penetrates the brain’s protective membrane, NEO sits on top of it. Both approaches have advantages and drawbacks. Avoiding penetration of the brain reduces surgical risk, but Neuralink’s approach allows the device to interface directly with individual neurons, potentially enabling a deeper biological connection and more precise signal collection.

While NEO reached the market first, Musk has said that 2026 will be a major year for Neuralink. Currently, Neuralink procedures require opening the brain’s dura mater, the protective outer membrane surrounding the brain. Musk plans to introduce a less invasive technique that would allow electrodes to pass through the dura without removing it — similar to drilling a small hole through a wall to run a wire rather than cutting out an entire section.

He has also announced that Neuralink will significantly expand its clinical trials as the company moves toward large-scale production. 

Other brain chip companies are also attempting to race to the commercial market. Synchron, which is backed by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, was founded in Australia before moving to the United States. In late 2025, Synchron raised $200 million to advance its implant. 

While Neuracle Technology is the most advanced brain-computer interface company in China, it is one of a new wave of startups backed by the Chinese communist government. China announced $165 million to fund startups through research to commercialization, as well as quickly adopting the technology into its national health service.