As brain–machine interfaces (BMIs) mature toward wearable, network-connected, and consumer-adjacent deployments, the absence of operating-system–level safeguards presents profound technical, ethical, and societal risks. Existing computing paradigms treat neural data as another input stream and rely on host operating systems that assume symmetric trust, persistent identity, and recoverable failure. These assumptions are fundamentally incompatible with systems that interface directly with human cognition. This paper introduces Brain-Sovereign Operating Systems (BSOS)—a class of operating system architectures designed to preserve cognitive autonomy, minimize attack surfaces, and enforce safety through intent abstraction and fail-silent control. We formalize the architectural primitives of BSOS, describe a reference implementation pattern (exemplified by THEMI-OS), and analyze its benefits, limitations, and appropriate deployment boundaries. This work serves as a technical disclosure, prior-art reference, and design framework for future secure neurocomputing systems.
Krishna Mohan Avancha (Thu,) studied this question.