BCI tracker · reviewed most weekdays · last updated
Tracking the race to wire the brain.
The leading companies putting chips in, on, or next to human brains, plus the main non-invasive players: who has implanted how many people, what regulators have said, and what just happened. Every number is sourced and dated.
Humans implanted = latest public count. Counts are not like-for-like: some are temporary implants during surgery, one is an eye implant. Tap a company for details and sources.
Minimally invasive: endovascular · Brooklyn, New York, US
10humans implanted
Stentrode: a stent-mounted electrode array threaded up the jugular vein into a blood vessel beside the motor cortex. No open-brain surgery.
Status
Investigational. FDA Breakthrough Device (Aug 2020); first FDA IDE for a permanently implanted BCI (Jul 2021); COMMAND study met its primary safety endpoint (Sep 2024). INTENT (US) and FOCUS-AUS studies enrolling in 2026; preparing a pivotal trial.
Count
Publicly confirmed: 4 (SWITCH, Australia) + 6 (COMMAND, US). Newer trials are enrolling; no updated company total found. A June 2026 secondary report of "100 patients" is unverified. Synchron / Business Wire: COMMAND results, 30 Sep 2024
Minimally invasive: surface (ECoG), non-penetrating · New York, US
100+humans implanted
Layer 7 Cortical Interface: a film thinner than a hair carrying up to thousands of electrodes, slid onto the brain's surface through a micro-slit in the skull.
Status
FDA 510(k) clearance for Layer 7 (decision 30 Mar 2025) for implantation of up to 30 days. Long-term implant still in clinical studies.
$250M Series D (Sep 2026). Valuation "just over $1B" (reported by NYT, not confirmed by company: unverified); ~$430M raised in total (reported). HedgeCo summary of release + NYT, 28 Sep 2026
Milestones
World record: 4,096 electrodes recording from a human brain (Mount Sinai) Fierce Biotech
Invasive: intracortical, penetrating electrodes · Salt Lake City, Utah, US
~40+humans implantedunverified
Utah Array: a 4×4 mm bed of silicon micro-needles. The workhorse behind most academic BCI records (BrainGate, UC Davis & Stanford speech BCIs).
Status
Arrays used chronically in humans under FDA IDE research trials for ~20 years; MoveAgain BCI got FDA Breakthrough Device designation (Nov 2021). No approved chronic BCI product yet.
Count
Reuters (Apr 2024): Blackrock tech had been used by ~40 people at the time of Tether's investment. No newer official count; treat as approximate. Reuters, 29 Apr 2024
Invasive: intracortical, fully implanted · Austin, Texas, US
1humans implanted
Connexus BCI: a high-density microelectrode array in the cortex, wired to a transceiver in the chest that beams data through the skin. Built for speech.
Status
FDA IDE approved Nov 2025 for the Connect-One early feasibility study (U. Michigan, UC Davis, Mass General). Aug 2026: FDA OK to use personal phones and laptops in the trial.
Count
First chronic Connect-One participant (Michigan). Plus a 2025 temporary implant during epilepsy surgery. No later count published. Paradromics, 17 Jun 2026
Invasive: subretinal implant (eye, not skull) · Alameda, California, US
38+humans implanted
PRIMA: a 2 × 2 mm wireless photovoltaic chip under the retina plus camera glasses that beam near-infrared light, restoring central vision in geographic atrophy (dry AMD).
Status
CE marked and commercially launched in Europe (Jul 2026). FDA Breakthrough Device (2023) and Humanitarian Use Device designations (Jul 2026); US approval pending.
Semi-invasive: epidural, under the skull, above the brain's membrane · Shanghai, China
36+humans implanted
NEO: a coin-sized titanium implant resting on the dura (8 contacts), wirelessly driving a pneumatic glove that restores grasp after spinal cord injury.
Status
China NMPA commercial registration approval (13 Mar 2026), widely described as the world's first market approval of an implanted BCI. First commercial surgery 13 Jul 2026 (Huashan Hospital).
ARC-BCI: a skull-mounted brain implant (with Clinatec) paired with ONWARD's spinal-cord stimulator, a "digital bridge" that turns intent to move into walking and hand movement.
Status
Investigational. FDA Breakthrough Device designation for ARC-BCI. Listed on Euronext.
Kernel Flow 2: a helmet combining time-domain fNIRS (up to 40 modules) and EEG to measure brain activity. Used for research and brain-health measurement.
Status: Commercial research device.
Money: Private company; no recent round disclosed.
A brain-computer interface reads electrical activity from neurons and turns it into commands, like moving a cursor, typing, speaking through a synthetic voice or gripping with a robotic glove. Some also write back in, stimulating the brain or retina to create sight or touch.
Invasive vs non-invasive
Penetrating implants (Neuralink, Blackrock, Paradromics) put needles into the cortex: best signal, most surgery. Surface and epidural arrays (Precision, Neuracle, ONWARD) sit on the brain or its lining. Endovascular (Synchron) goes in through a vein, no open-brain surgery. Non-invasive headsets and wristbands read from outside: safe and cheap, but blurrier.
Why “wetwired” and “.si”?
“Wetware” is cyberpunk slang for the brain, the squishy hardware. Being wetwired means your brain is jacked straight into a machine. “SI” is superintelligence: AI beyond human level. The bet behind half these companies is that the brain will need a faster port to keep up with it.
06Flagged as unverified
Synchron "100 patients implanted": single secondary report (neurotech.com, 9 Jun 2026), not confirmed by Synchron; the scoreboard uses the confirmed 10.
Blackrock "~40+ people": 2024 company/press figure, no newer official count.
Precision valuation "just over $1B": reported by NYT, not stated by the company.
ONWARD "7 ARC-BCI implants": taken from a summary of the company's H1 2026 report, not checked against the report itself.
Neuralink "$9B valuation": reported by media at the Series E; not stated by Neuralink.
What's here: a curated list of the leading companies with human brain (or retina) implants, plus the main non-invasive players. It is not an exhaustive list of every BCI company.
Where numbers come from: company announcements, regulators (FDA, NMPA), peer-reviewed journals and major outlets. Every figure links to its source and date.
Verified vs unverified: a figure is verified when we read it on the company's own page or a primary source or major outlet. A single secondary report or an unconfirmed claim is flagged unverified.
How often: sources are reviewed most weekdays; the page changes when something new is published. The date at the top is the date of the last change.
Corrections: email wetwired@mail.tab.bot with a link to the source. Companies can send newer figures the same way. We aim to correct errors quickly.