Chinese authorities have launched a major push towards developing brain-computer interfaces (BCI) similar to Elon Musk’s Neuralink, according to local reports.

Several brain chip startups have already received approval from health regulators to sell devices, while insurers have announced the first commercial policies that cover the invasive surgery required to fit them.

Once implanted in the brain, a BCI device can translate a user’s thoughts into digital or physical actions, such as controlling a computer or a robotic body.

China became the first country in the world to approve BCI devices for commercial uses earlier this year, with Beijing classing the technology as a core future strategic industry in its latest five-year plan.

The latest device to win market approval is a cap studded with electrodes developed by Tianjin-based Tiankai Suishi Intelligent Technology, South China Morning Post reported.

The cap, which is already on sale, allows doctors to assess and diagnose a patient’s cognitive functions.

Elon Musk has previously described the coin-sized Neuralink device as a “Fitbit in your skull”, claiming that future versions will allow wearers to achieve a “sort of symbiosis” with artificial intelligence.

“It could even get to the point where you can upload your memories and essentially have a saved version of yourself… then download that into a robot body or a clone version of your original self,” he said during an event last year.

“I’m really getting into sci fi here…. but I do think stuff like that will be possible, which would give people a form of immortality.”

Read More: China approves brain chip devices to rival Elon Musk’s Neuralink