The company Neuralink, which seeks to develop connected implants for the human brain, is under fire from critics. The start-up led by Elon Musk is accused of mistreating laboratory animals, the agency revealed on Tuesday Reuters.
An investigation by the Inspector General of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) interviewed more than 20 employees and ex-employees of the company. Many of them admitted that Elon Musk put them under intense pressure to speed up the project, at the risk of committing serious negligence impacting the health of the animals.
About 1,500 animals killed during the tests
Last February, an animal rights group filed a lawsuit against Neuralink. Teams are accused of botching experiments on lab monkeys and making highly damaging mistakes. Using the wrong surgical glue and implanting the wrong size devices would have resulted in animal suffering and even death.
The figures are edifying: since 2018, Neuralink has killed around 1,500 animals (sheep, pigs, monkeys, etc.). However, Elon Musk has always refuted the accusations of animal abuse, even believing that the laboratories of Austin (Texas, United States) would be a real “Disneyland for monkeys”.
Intense pressure on the teams
Another employee believes that the workers are not sufficiently prepared to carry out operations on animals and that they are under considerable stress. Elon Musk himself would put intense pressure on his people at Neuralink. He would even have recommended to his employees to work permanently as if they had a bomb strapped around their necks…
The company hopes in the future to implant its connected chips in the brains of people who are paralyzed or suffering from neurological diseases to allow them to communicate with a computer by thought. But so far, the prototypes have only been implanted in the skulls of animals.
