Synchron, Nvidia showcase AI for brain-computer interfaces
ALS patient Rodney Gorham using the BCI system to control devices around his home.
Brain-computer interface (BCI) specialist Synchron has previewed an artificial intelligence model that it believes will form the basis of a new generation of devices to allow individuals to control digital and physical environments with their minds.
In a shot across the bows of Elon Musk's rival BCI platform Neuralink, Synchron gave a presentation on the 'cognitive AI', dubbed Chiral, at the GTC 2025 event hosted by Nvidia, its development partner for the technology. Chiral is being described as a "foundation model" for human cognition.
At the show, Synchron demonstrated how its Stentrode BCI, a stent-like device implanted via the neck into blood vessels near the brain's motor cortex, could work with Nvidia AI and an Apple Vision Pro headset to allow a patient to control various devices around his home.
Rodney Gorham, who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and is paralysed and unable to talk, was able to adjust lighting, play music, turn on a fan and robotic vacuum, and activate an automated pet feeder using his thoughts.
While Gorham initially used a computer or smart device to control the technology around him, the addition of the Apple headset means he can now simply look at them and control them using drop-down menus.
The next stage in the development of the BCI will be to expand the capabilities of the AI, moving from supervised to self-supervised learning, according to Synchron, which in time will make the implant quicker, more precise, and more responsive. That in turn could make it possible to control more complex operations.
"We are building a brain foundation model using generative pre-training techniques that learn directly from neural data – abstracting human cognition at its source – to create features that improve our user's lives," said Tom Oxley, chief executive and founder of Synchron.
"This is possible because of our ability to scale large datasets, by making BCI as common as a stent insertion," he added. In practice, that means drawing on data from a broad population of subjects, rather than just one user.
Future development of the AI will be aimed at allowing it to consider the environmental context in which commands are given, further improving its accuracy and ability to help users carry out tasks in real-world environments.
"Just as AI today is trained on vast datasets of text and images, the next step in AI evolution is training on neural signals," said Synchron and Nvidia in a statement.
"Chiral will evolve into a self-learning model of cognition, representing the next leap beyond generative AI and agentic AI into the era of cognitive AI."
