At a tech forum in Beijing last week, a Chinese company unveiled a "homegrown" brain-computer interface that allowed a monkey to seemingly control a robotic arm just by thinking about it. In a video shown at the event, a monkey with its hands restrained uses the interface to move a robotic arm and grasp a strawberry. The system, developed by NeuCyber NeuroTech and the Chinese Institute for Brain Research, involves soft electrode filaments implanted in the brain, according to state-run news media outlet Xinhua. Researchers in the US have tested similar systems in paralyzed people to allow them to control robotic arms, but the demonstration underscores China's progress in developing its own brain-computer interface technology and vying with the West. Brain-computer interfaces, or BCIs, collect and analyze brain signals, often to allow direct control of an external device, such as a robotic arm, keyboard, or smartphone.

The U.K. Government is seemingly backtracking on plans that would have allowed text and data mining "for any purpose," plans designed to position the U.K. as a "global AI superpower." The news emerges following months of blowback from creative industries concerned about what impact the rules might have on protected works. Text and data mining, for the uninitiated, is an essential component of just about every AI application, allowing researchers and developers to leverage disparate datasets to train their algorithms. But gaining access to a sufficient amount of data is not a straight-forward endeavor, given that data is often owned by organizations or individuals that might not want third-parties to have access to their data. Or, they may only make said data available under a commercial license, making it prohibitively expensive to harness.