Financial Services Association, March 23 (Editor Wei Qi): Noland Arbaugh (Noland Arbaugh), the first brain-computer chip implantation test subject from Musk's brain-computer interface company Neuralink, posted his first post on the X platform on March 22. Musk retweeted the post and wrote, “First post made through an idea, using the Neuralnk telepathy device.” Earlier this week, Neuralink showed how Noland Abbott could play chess and video games on a computer with the idea.

Additionally, Elon Musk posted on social networking platform X that the brain-computer interface company Neuralink's “blind vision” implants are already working on monkeys. Musk said, “At first, the resolution will be very low, just like early Nintendo graphics, but in the end it may surpass normal human vision.” Musk previously said that after “telepathy” (telepathy), Neuralink's next product will be “Blindsight” (Blindsight), which can help blind people recover their vision.

Brain-computer interface (BCI-brain-machineinterface, hereinafter collectively referred to as BCI) refers to a direct connection created between a human or animal brain and an external device to exchange information between the brain and the device. The work process includes collecting and acquiring EEG signals, processing the signals, outputting and executing the signals, and finally feeding back the signals to the brain.

Brain-computer interface information collection levels can be divided into intrusive, partially intrusive, and non-intrusive. Non-intrusive market share is 86%. Neuralink, on the other hand, uses an invasive method, where electrodes are implanted directly into the cerebral cortex through surgery, etc., to obtain high-quality neural signals.

In terms of market size, the BCI market size continues to expand under the synergy of new BCI technology catalysis, the focus on national strategies, and the continuous expansion of application requirements. According to the China Business Intelligence Network report, in 2023, the global BCI market will reach 1.98 billion US dollars. The market size is expected to reach 3.3 billion US dollars by 2027, with a compound annual growth rate of about 14% over 7 years.

In terms of the industrial chain, the downstream of brain-computer interface is mainly responsible for applying brain-computer interface systems to actual scenarios. According to the China Business Intelligence Network report, the number of downstream enterprises accounts for 62% of the industry. Upstream software and hardware core technology vendors are scarce, and enterprises account for 8% of the distribution. Midstream system integrators and manufacturers account for 30%. In terms of industrial applications, the BCI market is still mainly medical. In the future, the share of BCI applications in education, games, smart homes, and military fields will gradually increase.

At the software level, the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology will bring more opportunities for innovation to BCI. Deep learning has strong feature extraction and pattern recognition capabilities. In recent years, the technology has been continuously updated and iterated, enabling algorithm updates and iterations, and is expected to break through the barriers of individual differentiation of BCI data. At the hardware level, more accurate sensors are being developed, devices are becoming lighter and more portable, and compatibility between intrusiveness and the human body continues to improve.

According to the Guotai Junan Securities Research Report, brain-computer interface boosts the development of the multi-modal field of AI and is expected to drive a new round of market conditions. Currently, the development of large models of EEG often faces difficulties in collecting and processing EEG data. With the development of brain-computer interfaces, after brain-computer interfaces become a new method of human-computer interaction, brain waves may become one of the modes in larger models, which will effectively improve the efficiency and scale of EEG data collection and processing. As the AI multi-modal model represented by the Sora model enters rapid development, brain-computer interfaces will continue to empower multi-modal related training, and Neuralink is expected to open up a new market for large EEG models. Companies related to the layout of the EEG model are expected to benefit. The relevant beneficiaries are: Iwayama Technology, Xinzhi Cognition, and Zhongke Information.

Guosheng Securities pointed out that domestic research and development continues to follow, and clinical trials are expected to make breakthrough progress. Listed domestic companies are also following the pace of overseas and are expected to create more surprises:

Chengyitong: Longzhijie, a wholly-owned subsidiary, and South China University of Technology have successfully developed products such as transcranial magnetic navigation systems and magnetic brain stimulation therapy devices, and are cooperating with various hospitals including the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University and the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University.

Neusoft Group: Neusoft is a leader and enabler of healthcare technology and commercial innovation, covering smart healthcare informatization, medical security, medical big data and intelligent technology research, medical IoT and 5G, medical equipment manufacturing, cloud hospital platforms, etc.

Sanbo Neurology: A leading neurology company, Sanbo Neurology, as a college-type medical institution integrating “medical education and research”, continues to focus on the application and development of brain-computer interface technology in the medical field.