Brain-computer interface—Human and AI “symbiosis”

Brain-computer interface—Human and AI “symbiosis”

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Author: Long Yue

Source: Hard AI

As artificial intelligence (AI) makes machines more and more like humans, efforts to make humans increasingly like machines are happening simultaneously.

According to Hard AI, in a research report by Morgan Stanley on October 8, titled "Neuralink: AI in Your Brain," it was written that brain-computer interfaces (BCI) are moving from science fiction into reality, and Elon Musk's Neuralink is at the center of this transformative storm.

Neuralink was founded by Musk in 2016, with the ultimate goal of achieving "symbiosis" between humans and AI, ensuring that in the age of artificial general intelligence (AGI), humans will not be eliminated. However, its short-term aim is very pragmatic: using BCI technology to treat neurological disorders such as paralysis, blindness, and Alzheimer's disease.

In June of this year, Elon Musk outlined Neuralink’s goals:

Alleviate human suffering: Initially, Neuralink focuses on improving the lives of people with degenerative neurological diseases or brain-affecting injuries. With this in mind, the company's first product, Telepathy, is designed to enable human-machine interaction, such as with robotic hands/arms or mouse cursors, so that paralyzed people can better interact with computers or their environment. Its second product, Blindsight, also focuses on this goal, restoring vision to those who have lost partial or total eyesight.Enhance human abilities: Neuralink’s next step will be to provide cybernetic enhancement to humans. For example, although Blindsight will initially target the visually impaired, Musk and the company's ultimate ambition is to use the technology to provide superhuman vision, including seeing infrared and ultraviolet.Understand and expand consciousness: As Neuralink achieves its first two goals, the company hopes to realize a more philosophical ambition: to understand what it means to be "conscious."Mitigate AI risk: Ultimately, Neuralink aims to achieve symbiosis between humans and AI—effectively turning humans into cyborgs capable of processing and using information at AI-competitive speeds by embedding such AI in the human body, thus eliminating the dangers that AI poses to society. In this imagined world, machines and humans will be natural extensions of one another, not replacements.

And the brain-computer interface (BCI) has enormous market potential. According to the report, the total addressable market (TAM) for BCI in U.S. healthcare alone could reach as high as $400 billion, and the report even calls this estimate "conservative." The market will start by addressing critical medical needs and gradually penetrate broader areas.

The BCI will use medical applications as a “backdoor” into the market, focusing first on helping patients with neurological diseases such as paralysis and blindness. But its long-term potential goes far beyond that, expanding into gaming, defense, social media, and potentially human-machine symbiosis.

As an industry pioneer, Neuralink’s technology is advancing rapidly. The report cites the company president saying that by September 2025, 12 patients had already implanted the device, and by the end of the year, about 25 are expected, with 10,000 people on the waiting list.

However, the market is not dominated by only one company. The report notes that companies such as Synchron (which uses less invasive vascular intervention), Precision Neuroscience (which uses microinvasive surface film technology) and others are taking different technical approaches, creating fierce competition.

Medical Comes First, the Path to Commercialization Becomes Clearer

Morgan Stanley believes that healthcare is the first area where BCI technology will land, and it is Neuralink’s current core strategy. The company’s preliminary product, “Telepathy,” aims to allow paralyzed patients to control a computer cursor or robotic arm with their thoughts, while the second product “Blindsight” is aimed at restoring vision for the blind.

The report details Neuralink’s two core products:

  • Telepathy: This is the company’s first product. By implanting the N1 chip to “read” signals from the motor cortex in the brain, users can control a computer cursor or external device using their minds. As of September 2025, 12 patients have received implants, and one patient uses it for more than 100 hours per week. Notably, its system latency is about 10 times faster than a normal human brain’s response to muscles—meaning the computer reacts even faster than the user expects.
  • Blindsight: This is the company’s second product, aiming to “write” signals into the visual cortex of the brain using the S2 chip to help blind people regain vision. Unlike Telepathy, which can only read signals, Blindsight’s technology is more complex, representing another leap for BCI technology.

According to an unconfirmed Bloomberg report, the company expects Telepathy to receive regulatory approval in 2029, and for Blindsight to launch in 2030.

Morgan Stanley’s report emphasizes that Neuralink’s greatest differentiator is its "deep vertical integration." To achieve large-scale application, Neuralink has not only independently developed the core N1 and S2 chips, but also created the dedicated R1 surgical robot.

Because the implanted electrode wires are thinner than hair, humans cannot perform the surgery. The R1 robot uses advanced imaging technology to autonomously and precisely implant the electrodes into the brain while avoiding blood vessels. The report says Neuralink is transitioning to the next-generation robot, which will increase implantation speed by 11 times (from 17 seconds/wire to just 1.5 seconds/wire), and greatly reduce costs—for example, each surgical needle’s cost going from $350 to just $15.

Neuralink president Dongjin Seo told Morgan Stanley that the company decided to develop its own surgical robot from day one, since they foresaw that, when the technology is released to the masses, the scarcity of qualified neurosurgeons would become a key bottleneck to scaling up.

Neuralink’s strong progress is being translated into feverish pursuit in the capital markets. The report notes that in June 2025, Neuralink completed a $650 million Series E round, with a post-investment valuation of $9 billion, and a total capital raised of $1.34 billion. Backers include well-known firms such as Founders Fund and Sequoia Capital.

This shows that, although commercialization will still take time, capital markets are betting heavily on BCI's disruptive potential.

Market Size Estimate: A Conservative $400 Billion

The report provides a detailed estimate of the BCI market size and considers its 2024 estimate of $400 billion TAM for just the U.S. healthcare market as possibly still conservative.

The report divides the market into two phases:

  • Early TAM (about $80.8 billion): Mainly aimed at patients with severe upper limb injuries, epilepsy, and depression, covering diseases such as motor neuron disease (MND/ALS), stroke, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis (MS), etc.
  • Mid-term TAM (about $317.4 billion): Expands to groups with moderate upper limb injuries or severe lower limb injuries.

The report predicts that the first commercialized BCI product may go to market in 2030. By 2045, cumulative income from BCI implantation surgery could exceed $12 billion, meaning market penetration will still be very low, with huge room for growth.

Contenders Compete: Competitive Landscape and Technical Routes

Although Neuralink is well-known, it is not the only player. Morgan Stanley’s report lists the main global BCI competitors, who have taken different technological approaches, forming a landscape of many contenders.

Synchron: Its Stentrode device is implanted via the jugular vein, requiring no craniotomy and offering lower invasiveness. The company has raised $140 million.

Precision Neuroscience: Founded by a Neuralink co-founder, its device is a thin film placed on the surface of the brain through a tiny incision, another minimally invasive solution. It has raised $155 million.

Paradromics: Focused on high data transmission rate BCI devices, has raised $97 million.

Merge Labs: Led by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, it explores noninvasive ultrasound technology and is still in "stealth mode."

Ambitions of Chinese players: The report specifically notes that China is investing heavily in the BCI industry, with the goal of cultivating “two to three globally influential leading companies” by 2030.

From Brainwaves to Where the “Heart” Wills

BCI was not accomplished overnight; its history can be traced back a hundred years. According to the report, this history began in 1924, when German psychiatrist Hans Berger first recorded electrical activity in the human brain, i.e., the electroencephalogram (EEG).

In the following decades, research gradually deepened. In the 1970s, Jacques Vidal from UCLA first introduced the term "brain-computer interface" in scientific literature. In 1988, researchers realized, for the first time, the control of a physical robot via non-invasive EEG.

Entering the 21st century, with the appearance of projects like "BrainGate," researchers successfully enabled paralyzed patients to control robotic arms to accomplish complex tasks such as drinking coffee through implantable BCI, laying the foundation for clinical applications of the technology.

Today, the breakthroughs of companies like Neuralink are built on this long and solid history of scientific exploration.

The Double-Edged Sword of Technology and Ethics

On the road to the future, BCI also faces severe challenges and risks. The report notes that Neuralink’s invasive surgeries themselves carry intrinsic neurosurgical risks. Its first human patient, Noland Arbaugh, experienced 85% electrode wire detachment a month after surgery, though some function was restored via software updates.

Furthermore, deeper risks include data security and ethical dilemmas.

The report warns that neural data collected by BCI is highly sensitive and, if not well protected, could be used by malicious actors to read intentions or even manipulate behavior. At the societal level, BCI technology may intensify inequality, giving rise to a "neuro-elite" class that can afford cognitive enhancement, sparking broad ethical concerns.

These challenges mean that the road to BCI commercialization is not just a technological race, but a profound test concerning regulation, safety, and fairness.

 

This article is from WeChat Official Account "Hard AI". For more AI news, please click here.

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