Brain Hacking: The Race to Turn the Human Brain into a Data Source

Brain-computer interfaces are moving beyond the realm of science fiction and medical laboratories: So-called brain-computer interfaces, or BCIs for short, are rapidly evolving into a strategically important field of technology. The fact that well-funded tech entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and Sam Altman are actively driving this development forward adds an extra layer of urgency to the topic. Their goal is a transhumanist vision—that is, the idea of humans merging with machines. “BCIs represent a completely new level of digitalization,” says Dr. Heinz-Werner Rapp, founder and director of the FERI Cognitive Finance Institute. “It becomes dangerous when this technology extends beyond medicine into the workplace, everyday life, platform economies, and security domains—as a source of highly sensitive neurodata, as a military interface, or as a new vulnerability in networked systems.”

In its newly published Cognitive Briefing, “Brain Hacking: Brain-Computer Interfaces as a Digital Interface to the Brain,” the Bad Homburg-based think tank provides an assessment of the technology’s potential, the associated areas of conflict, and its strategic relevance in geopolitical competition. 

New Areas of Application Beyond Medicine

Currently, the most important area of application for BCIs is in medicine, such as in the treatment of spinal cord injuries or the aftereffects of strokes. However, new concepts are increasingly targeting areas relevant to everyday life, such as the workplace, digital media, and security. Military use cases are also coming into focus. The overall momentum on the horizon is enormous, but it also carries systemic risks. “The more closely neural data is linked to AI systems, platforms, cloud-based analysis, and digital identity, the more the focus shifts toward access, prediction, behavior steering, and control. That is precisely where the ‘dark side’ of BCIs begins,” warns Rapp. Anyone who can access highly sensitive neural data gains insight into human emotions and reaction patterns—and with that, entirely new possibilities for predicting, influencing, or exploiting behavior for economic gain. “Added to this are real risks of abuse and manipulation, such as brain hacking, brainjacking, or mind control,” Rapp emphasizes.

Competition Over Data, Security, and Technological Control

“What will be crucial in the future is who controls neurodigital interfaces, trains AI models, operates data platforms, sets technical and ethical standards, and decides on legitimate use or abuse,” explains Rapp. This development becomes even more problematic in areas where neurotechnology is also gaining relevance for security and public policy—and where figures like Elon Musk with Neuralink or Sam Altman with Merge Labs are setting the pace. Even what appears to be a limited adoption could quickly create new power dynamics long before its political and societal implications become apparent.

This competition is already in full swing and is also taking on geopolitical significance: The U.S. is deliberately driving neurotechnology forward through a high level of innovation, China has declared BCIs a strategic future field in its new five-year plan, and Europe is attempting to steer development through regulation and ethical standards. Rapp makes it clear: “This race highlights the strategic implications—and explains why brain-computer interfaces currently demand our full attention.”

Strategic Leading Indicator for Entrepreneurs and Professional Investors

The strategic positioning of this topic is complex. “BCIs are already a reality today. However, they are neither a niche area of medical technology nor a fully mature mass market—it is precisely this intermediate stage that makes them highly relevant from a strategic perspective,” says the expert from the FERI Cognitive Finance Institute. “The decisive factor will be the guidelines and ethical frameworks under which brain-computer interfaces will continue to develop in the future—and thereby find their way into a much broader range of practical applications.”

In its new Cognitive Briefing (available in German) the think tank of the Bad Homburg-based FERI Group analyzes the potential impact of BCIs on the future. The analysis is available in German for download on this page.

*Brain hacking refers to the ability to access neural signals or cognitive processes in the human brain via digital interfaces. Brainjacking refers to the malicious intrusion into BCIs with the aim of actively controlling other people. Mind control involves a gradual shift in the ability to influence: neurodata, AI, and platform logic could be used to predict attention, emotional reactions, preferences, or decisions with ever-greater accuracy and to influence them in a targeted manner in specific contexts.