Axios: Brain implants fuel China rivalry

🧠 Brain implants fuel China rivalry
 
Animated illustration of a brain, parts of which pixelate one after the other.
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Stock: Getty Images
 
Brain implants like those being developed by Elon Musk’s Neuralink are becoming the latest friction point in the intensifying U.S.-China rivalry in the life sciences, Axios’ Adriel Bettelheim writes.

Why it matters: The devices are bringing new hope to patients with strokes, Parkinson’s disease and other neurological conditions. And tech billionaires have fueled advances by pouring billions into biotech startups focused on linking the brain with computers.

But a new national security analysis says U.S. development efforts are being overtaken by Beijing’s full-court press around manufacturing, data and commercialization.

The consequences could extend beyond health care, affecting U.S. military capabilities and the ability to train the next generation of AI models, according to the analysis.

🔬 Zoom in: Brain-computer interfaces are going mainstream. Companies like Neuralink, Precision Neuroscience, Paradromics and Synchron are testing new applications, like helping to restore communication for people who have lost the ability to speak.

Rapid advances in artificial intelligence are reducing the time it takes to calibrate a device to a patient’s brain signals and use them for functions like controlling a prosthetic part.

And China leveled up the field this spring, when it issued what’s thought to be the world’s first commercial approval of a brain-computer interface designed to revive hand movement in people with spinal cord injuries.

Share this story … Sign up for our daily Axios Future of Health Care.
Share on Facebook Tweet this Story Post to LinkedIn Email this Story Text this Story
 
 
6. 👀 Witkoff meets powerful UAE official
 
Vessels sit near the Strait of Hormuz along the coast of Oman this week. Photo: Reuters

White House envoy Steve Witkoff met last weekend with the national security adviser of the United Arab Emirates to discuss next steps on Iran, Axios’ Barak Ravid writes.

Witkoff met with Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan (TBZ) on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia.Why it matters: The talks, which weren’t announced by the White House and haven’t been reported until now, took place amid the Trump administration’s push to reopen the Strait of Hormuz while choking Iran economically.

The UAE has been the key partner in the U.S.-led operation to reopen and guide oil tankers through the strait.

Keep reading.
Unknown's avatar

About michelleclarke2015

Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a comment