Tag: Synchron

7 articles

Industry News

Neuralink cuts some implant users' calibration from 10 minutes a day to 10 minutes a week

Neuralink said on 1 October 2026 that participants in its clinical trial have streamed more than 50,000 hours of unlabelled brain recordings during everyday use of its implant, and that it has used participants' own recordings to pretrain participant-specific models that steady the software turning brain signals into cursor movement. Calibration had averaged 55 minutes a week across participants, typically 10 minutes at the start of each day; some participants now calibrate for 10 minutes a week. Six participants set personal bests on Neuralink's cursor test, and one reached 11.32 bits per second, which the company calls a record for a brain-computer interface. Every live result came from a model trained on a single participant's data, and models pooled across participants have not yet performed better. Neuralink's stated next goals are calibrating once, never calibrating, and a shared 'API for the motor cortex' for developers.

Oct 3

Industry News

Apple acquires neural-sensor startup Sonera Magnetics

Apple's acquisition of Berkeley-based magnetic-sensor startup Sonera Magnetics, closed in May 2026 and disclosed publicly on 8 September 2026 via the European Commission's Digital Markets Act acquisitions database, is the company's first move from hosting third-party brain-computer interface signals to owning proprietary neural-sensor IP. Sonera builds solid-state acoustically-driven ferromagnetic resonance (ADFMR) magnetometers, a room-temperature alternative to SQUID-based magnetoencephalography (MEG). The company raised US$11 million in seed financing in September 2023 from a lead-heavy syndicate including Founders Fund, Benchmark, Amplify Partners, IVP, Craft Ventures, and 8VC. Deal terms were not disclosed. Sonera's website was taken offline post-acquisition. Apple's prior BCI-adjacent moves were the AirPods ear-canal biosignal patent (filed January 2023), the BCI HID accessibility protocol for iOS 26, iPadOS 26 and visionOS 26 launched with Synchron on 13 May 2025, and hosting of Cognixion's non-invasive EEG clinical trial on Vision Pro from October 2025. Owning Sonera's magnetic-sensor IP puts Apple directly against Meta's Neural Band (surface EMG) and the non-surgical BCI operator field (Merge Labs ultrasound, Subsense nanoparticle, Neurable EEG earbuds).

Sep 9

Market Moves

Bill Ackman commits $400 million to a new brain research institute after his daughter's brain haemorrhage

Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and designer Neri Oxman announced the Ackman Oxman Institute (AOI) on 19-20 August 2026, seeded with $400 million in Pershing Square Inc. stock and a stated further commitment of similar or greater size in a form other than Pershing Square stock. The institute focuses on brain research, rehabilitation, longevity, and human optimization, with Mount Sinai as an important clinical partner. Ackman cited Neuralink, Precision Neuroscience, Synchron, Science Corp and Nudge as examples of the BCI field the institute will engage with, without claiming direct equity in any of them.

Aug 22