The brain implant company Neuralinkco-founded by Elon Muskis under federal investigation in the US for vviolation of the rules on the treatment of animals. In fact, some staff members have reported that too fast experiments have led to the death and unnecessary suffering of some of the monkeys in the laboratory.
Neuralink under investigation for treatment of animals
The investigation by the Department of Agriculture’s Inspector General focuses on theAnimal Welfare Act, which protects animals even during laboratory experiments. According to the newspaper, from 2018 to today Neuralink allegedly killed 1,500 animals, although it is difficult to evaluate this due to inaccuracies in the reporting. The vast majority would be rats and guinea pigs, but at least they would be counted 280 dead among sheep, pigs and monkeys.
Some of these deaths result from Musk’s emphasis on speeding things up, according to some employees. Which would lead to poorly prepared experimentsi which would have caused unnecessary suffering and death of the animals.
Every year in the United States die for laboratory experiments at least 800 thousand animals. But in addition to the criticisms of animal rights activists, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine also criticized Neuralink, saying that it “mutilates” macaques and monkeys to pursue its own computer-brain interface.
Last February, Neuralink posted on his blog a detailed analysis of his procedures aimed at protecting animals during experiments. According to the post, six animals had been euthanized under the advice of staff at UC Davis. For reasons ranging from infections related to the implantation of the chip to allergic reactions to products used during the operations.
As the animal cruelty lawsuit continues, Musk announced that Neuralink will seek approval for begin human trials in the next six months. We will keep you updated on the development of the matter.