China Just Beat Everyone to the Brain Chip Market — Europe Isn't Even in the Race ### What happened in China On March 13, 2026, China's National Medical Products Administration approved the NEO brain implant developed by Neuracle Medical Technology — making China the first country in the world to authorise a commercially available brain-computer interface (BCI) device. NEO is a coin-sized implant embedded in the skull with eight electrodes that rest on the brain's motor cortex. When a paralysed user imagines moving their hand, the chip transmits that signal to a computer, which activates a prosthetic glove. Thirty-two patients have tested it without reported adverse side effects. It is now approved for people aged 19–60 with paralysis caused by spinal cord or neck injuries. The approval was not a surprise to those following China's BCI policy. In late 2025, Beijing issued a national strategy document explicitly targeting global…