Russian startup Neiry reports steering live pigeons by brain stimulation as bio-drones

Filed retrospectively. Before the Specola kept its nightly watch, these were the observations that turned the telescope.

In February 2026, the Moscow neurotechnology company Neiry drew wide coverage for a program that implants electrodes in the brains of live pigeons and directs their flight by remote stimulation. According to reports based on an interview its chief executive Alexander Panov gave to Bloomberg, the birds carry a skull-mounted stimulator, a solar-powered backpack, and a chest camera. Operators trigger “mild stimulation” of specific brain regions, which the company says prompts the bird to feel a motivation to turn left or right and to follow preset routes before returning to base.

Neiry frames the birds as efficient carriers. The company states the pigeons can fly up to roughly 300 miles a day, navigate complex terrain, enter tight spaces, and operate in weather that grounds conventional drones. Panov described intended uses as “surveillance, inspecting infrastructure or the environment, and supporting search-and-rescue operations,” and told reporters the firm’s longer aim is to build “the next human species after Homo sapiens.”

The claims have not undergone independent scientific verification. Bioethicists quoted in the coverage raised concerns about both the welfare of the animals and the surveillance applications. Nita Farahany of Duke University said that using neural implants “to control and puppeteer any species” feels troubling. The Specola records the announcement, not its confirmation.