(Politico) – A battle is looming not just over privacy, but the future of the human species.

Ownership of extensive neural data can be used to do anything from serve extremely targeted ads to surveil or manipulate consumers’ behavior. The tech billionaires who believe in the possibility of true human-AI integration may also see a chance to make some more money in the meantime.

“If data is the oil of the 21st century,” former UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay wrote in November in the Financial Times, “then ‘brain’ data is the crude oil. We need to guard it more jealously.”

Resistance to private sector accumulation of neural data is growing quickly, with red states and blue states alike passing legislation to protect the privacy of neural information. (Read More)