Beyond Neuralink: China’s Project Aims to Train Cultivated Brains for Robots

Neuralink, led by Elon Musk, is developing a brain-computer interface (BCI) chip that aims to create a two-way information exchange between the human brain and machines. Tianjin University takes a more ambitious approach with their “brain-on-a-chip” project. They aim to not only create a BCI but also potentially cultivate and train brain tissue to perform complex tasks, in addition to enabling machine interaction.

Researchers from Tianjin University’s Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory, in collaboration with Southern University of Science and Technology, have developed an open-source system called MetaBOC. This system facilitates the connection between brain-on-a-chip technology and electronic devices. The ultimate goal is to utilize MetaBOC to interface a lab-grown brain tissue with a robot, enabling the brain tissue to control the robot and perform intelligent tasks like obstacle avoidance.

The researchers provided a visual aid to demonstrate the concept

This project can be understood as having two key components. The first involves creating a brain-computer interface (BCI) by cultivating brain tissue and linking it to a chip. The MetaBOC system then acts as a bridge, facilitating…