The 18 wpm referenced a 2021 paper using a different approach where the user imagined writing with a pen on paper. No speed was stated by the article for the "

The 18 wpm referenced a 2021 paper using a different approach where the user imagined writing with a pen on paper. No speed was stated by the article for the "imagine-speaking" technology that it's about, though presumably they have yet to match that 18 wpm record. But the author says: We’d like to enable paralyzed people to communicate at a rate of 100 words per minute. We have a lot of work to do to reach that goal, but we think our approach makes it a feasible target. 100 wpm would be slower than an average speaker but a bit faster than a quick typist.