Overview

• Hunterbrook Media and journalist Pablo Torre published a six‑month investigation reporting that FocusCalm headsets used in pro sports may have exposed users’ brainwave data to Chinese-linked actors.
• Named users include Ferrari F1 driver Charles Leclerc, tennis players Jannik Sinner and Iga Świątek, Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin, and several Premier League footballers.
• Newsweek reports the probe alleges a Chinese government employee extracted software data from the devices used by athletes.
• Documents cited in the reporting describe BrainCo funding ties to CCP-linked entities and partnerships with Chinese military contractors, with the company pursuing a China IPO valued around $1.3 billion.
• Sports physician Dr. Riccardo Ceccarelli and Duke legal scholar Nita Farahany caution the data could be repurposed for aviation or cognitive warfare research, while the allegations remain unverified and no formal responses were reported.