Archive photos of pigs (left) and Elon Musk (right). Photos / 123rf, AP
Archive photos of pigs (left) and Elon Musk (right). Photos / 123rf, AP
Elon Musk’s brain implant company is under US federal investigation after it was reported that around 1500 animals have died in the last four years during tests.
Neuralink is developing a chip it hopes will help paralysed people walk again, but staff say testing is being rushed due to overwhelming pressure from Musk, causing needless suffering and deaths.
On more than one occasion, Musk has told employees to imagine they had a bomb strapped to their heads in an effort to get them to move faster, according to three sources who spoke to Reuters.
In a number of cases, it is alleged that tests have been botched because of poor preparation, and animals have had to be put down.
In all, about 1500 animals have died according to Reuters, including sheep, pigs and monkeys, following experiments since 2018, according to records reviewed by Reuters and sources with direct knowledge of the company’s animal-testing operations.
A small processor sits on the surface of the skull and captures information from electrodes that sit along a tiny thread that might penetrate a number of centimetres into the brain. Photo / Neuralink
The mistakes leading to “unnecessary” animal deaths included one instance in 2021, when 25 out of 60 pigs in a study had devices that were the wrong size implanted in their heads - an error that could have been avoided with more preparation, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
Elsewhere, it was alleged that surgeons used the wrong surgical glue twice, which led to two monkeys suffering and ultimately dying, while other monkeys had different complications from the implants.
The failed tests also had to be repeated, increasing the number of animals being tested and killed.
A federal probe has been opened by the US Department of Agriculture’s Inspector General at the request of a federal prosecutor, Reuters reported. The investigation is focusing on violations of the Animal Welfare Act, which governs how researchers treat and test some animals.
US regulations do not specify how many animals companies can use for research, and they give significant leeway to scientists to determine when and how to use animals in experiments. Neuralink, which has been approached for comment, has passed all USDA inspections of its facilities, regulatory filings show.
The total number of animal deaths does not necessarily indicate that Neuralink is violating regulations or standard research practices, but current and former employees say the number of animal deaths is higher than it needs to be for reasons related to Musk’s demands to speed research.
One other senior leader is alleged to have sent staff an email with a link to a news article about a Swiss company which has developed a chip to help a paralysed man walk again.
“In general, we are simply not moving fast enough. It is driving me nuts!” he wrote.
Diagram of brain implants designed by Neuralink. Photo / Neuralink
Company leaders have boasted internally of building a “Monkey Disneyland” in the company’s Austin, Texas facility where lab animals can roam, a former employee said.
Another former employee reportedly recalled Musk saying he disliked using animals for research but wanted to make sure they were “the happiest animals” while alive.
But the concerns over animal research have even caused employees to leave the company, it has been claimed.
According to insiders, at least four experiments involving 86 pigs and two monkeys were marred by human errors in recent years, which weakened the experiments’ research value and required the tests to be repeated, leading to more animals being killed.
Three staff members speaking on condition of anonymity attributed the mistakes to a lack of preparation by a testing team working in a pressure-cooker environment.
One employee wrote an angry missive earlier this year to colleagues about the need to overhaul how the company organises animal surgeries to prevent “hack jobs”.
An alleged incident involved staff accidentally implanting Neuralink’s device on the wrong vertebra of two different pigs during two separate surgeries. One of the pigs had to be put down almost immediately.
Neuralink has not responded to a request for comment.
