Elon Musk’s Neuralink is being outperformed by this Spanish graphene startup

Inbrain’s neural implants will be used to treat conditions like Parkinson’s and epilepsy.

In February, Elon Musk told the world that his brain-computer interface company Neuralink had wired up a monkey to play video games with its mind. 

Unsurprisingly, given the US billionaire specialises in viral moments like these, the announcement made a splash across the world. 

But one Spanish startup was not so impressed, having spent the last eight years developing a specialised neural implant made of graphene — which it believes vastly outperforms Musk’s Neuralink.

“Brain interfaces need to do three things well: record brain signals, stimulate them and then be stable for many, many years in the brain,” says Inbrain cofounder and chief executive Carolina Aguilar.

Aguilar argues that the material that Musk is currently using at Neuralink, a polymer called Pedot, degrades inside the brain too quickly to serve as a viable material for a brain stimulating implant.

Or to put it another way, Neuralink is going down the wrong path.

Inbrain is a product of the EU Graphene Flagship Programme, developed at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. Credit: Inbrain.