China and South Korea unveil breakthrough chips for real‑time brain interfaces and programmable photonics

Researchers at Peking University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have created a 40 nm brain‑speed chip that operates with less than 10 ms latency, matching the response time of human neurons. The 0.28 mm² device uses in‑memory computing and a conductance‑drift array, delivering up to 478‑times faster cortical surface reconstruction than an Nvidia A100 GPU while dramatically lowering power consumption. The team demonstrated high‑precision brain‑white‑matter and gray‑matter modeling, pointing to applications in brain‑computer interfaces, surgical navigation, medical imaging and neuro‑degenerative disease research.

In South Korea, scientists from Seoul National University and Seoul City University have designed a programmable photonic integrated circuit that can dynamically adjust the speed of light on a chip. By exploiting the coupled‑resonator induced transparency (CRIT) effect, the circuit provides on‑chip delay, synchronization, buffering and frequency conversion without extra components. Simulations show stable operation despite realistic material losses and thermal crosstalk, suggesting the technology could reduce energy use and boost computational efficiency in AI data‑center servers. The researchers aim to scale the design toward commercial photonic AI accelerators.