A global race to develop a competitive brain-computer interface is heating up between the United States and China, as NeuroXess has successfully completed its first BCI human implant with an integrated battery, offering a different approach and providing lab research.
The system was developed by the Shanghai-based firm, while the surgery was performed by a medical team at Huashan Hospital, affiliated with Fudan University. Worldwide, fewer than 100 people have received implanted BCIs, and China has rapidly emerged as a competitor to leading American programs.
The patient who received the battery-integrated implant was a man with high-level quadriplegia and paralysis below the shoulders. Within five days of surgery, he was able to establish mind-computer control, according to information presented at the annual conference of the Brain-Computer Interface and Interaction Branch of the Chinese Neuroscience Society.
Earlier BCI systems often relied on battery packs mounted outside the patient’s skull and required external hardware to operate. These designs carried risks, including connection problems and limited mobility. NeuroXess aims to address these issues by implanting the core module, including its battery, entirely within the body.
Unlike many American BCI developers that place more of the system directly in the brain or skull, NeuroXess positions the battery in the chest, a design the company says improves long-term safety and stability.
According to Mao Ying, president of Huashan Hospital, the patient’s brain-signal decoding rate reached 5.2 bits per second in standardized testing—among the strongest performances reported so far in BCI research.
In January, a press release described another major advance, stating that the breakthrough “lies in the real-time decoding technology for the Chinese language.” In a separate clinical trial, a female epilepsy patient with a tumor affecting the brain’s language area achieved decoding coverage of 418 Chinese syllables within seven days of surgery.
Five days after surgery, the system achieved 71 percent accuracy when decoding 142 commonly used Chinese syllables, with a delay of less than 100 milliseconds—reported as the highest level of real-time Chinese speech decoding recorded to date.
It’s predicted that China could surpass America in the race to dominate BCI research in the coming months, driven by government funding and research support. In July of 2025, the Chinese government announced its intention to set a new goal of becoming the “gold standard” for BCI competitors worldwide. Since then, at least ten clinical trial programs have launched, and NeuroXess has accelerated development to remain competitive with fast-growing American companies.
Compared to Neuralink, NeuroXess has completed over 50 BCI implants since its founding in 2021, while Elon Musk’s BCI company has completed 12 implants since September 2025, although 21 have been enrolled since the start of the year.
According to recent statements by Musk, Neuralink is expected to ramp up its efforts to enable “high volume” brain chip production by the end of this year.
Chrissy Newton is a PR professional and the founder of VOCAB Communications. She currently appears on The Discovery Channel and Max and hosts the Rebelliously Curious podcast, which can be found on YouTube and on all audio podcast streaming platforms. Follow her on X: @ChrissyNewton, Instagram: @BeingChrissyNewton, and chrissynewton.com. To contact Chrissy with a story, please email chrissy @ thedebrief.org.