The gap between China’s brain chip and Neuralink is becoming clearer as Beijing pushes harder into brain-computer interface development. NeuCyber Neurotech, a Chinese state-backed BCI startup, says its most advanced product is still about three years behind Elon Musk’s Neuralink, even as China accelerates approvals and human trials.
That admission matters because brain-computer interfaces are now part of a wider technology race involving medicine, robotics, and national industrial policy.
NeuCyber’s rotating CEO, Li Yuan, said the company’s Beinao-2 product is still trailing Neuralink by roughly three years. According to sources, Beinao-2 is an invasive BCI with flexible electrodes designed for full-brain implantation and is currently undergoing large-scale animal testing.
Li said Neuralink’s lead comes partly from its surgical robot, which can insert hundreds of electrodes into the brain in minutes. Neuralink says people in its trials are already using its devices to control computers and robotic arms with their thoughts, and the company reported last month that 21 participants are enrolled in trials worldwide.
Neuralink's Microfabrication R&D Lead, Lesley explains how the team is building fake brain proxies to test the implants.
This reduces reliance on testing in animals and humans.
I expect Neuralink to build fake brains in the future- they can use brain data from their fleet of… pic.twitter.com/WOTr5IprR6
— Neura Pod – Neuralink (@NeuraPod) March 14, 2026China has been moving quickly on the regulatory side. The country recently became the first in the world to approve an invasive BCI medical device for commercial use. That device was developed by Shanghai-based Neuracle and is intended for patients with spinal cord injuries.
NeuCyber, meanwhile, has already carried out seven human implantations of its earlier Beinao-1 product, according to Li. That semi-invasive device places a mesh with electrodes on the brain’s outer membrane, and the company says some patients have shown improvement in hand motor function and cursor control after six months of use.
Beinao-1 and Beinao-2 show China’s two-track strategy
The source text suggests NeuCyber is developing on two fronts. Beinao-1 is further along in human use and may expand to 50 patients this year, which the company sees as an important step toward commercial approval.
Beinao-2, by contrast, is the more advanced long-term play. Li said it still must move from animal testing to early feasibility studies and then to larger clinical trials before it can catch up with global leaders.
That means China is trying to build scale and speed simultaneously: pushing forward with a semi-invasive product while developing a more competitive invasive chip in parallel.
Why the BCI race matters
The competition is not only about who implants more devices first. It is also about which companies can turn experimental systems into regulated medical products that restore motor function and work reliably in daily life.
The source text says Beijing has elevated BCIs into a future strategic industry in its latest five-year plan. NeuCyber has also received around 200 million yuan in funding from the Beijing government, highlighting how seriously China is treating the field.
For now, Neuralink still appears ahead in human trials and real-world use. However, China’s faster push on approvals and patient expansion shows that the global BCI race is no longer centred only in the United States.
