Elon Musk may encounter new research related to the death of monkeys which were used in testing brain chips from Neuralink, his biotech company. Four congressmen wrote to the chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, accusing the tycoon of possible fraud. Just as Neuralink is preparing to begin human experiments.
Elon Musk wrote in September that “no monkey has died as a result of the Neuralink implant.” In a post on X (Twitter), he explained that the monkeys the company used to test its brain chips were “already close to death.” The letter, signed by four members of the House of Representatives, states that Musk knew what he was saying was a lie.
Research from the National Primate Research Center in California claims that at least a dozen monkeys implanted with chips experienced various health problems. These included infections and inflammation of the brain before they were finally euthanized.
Lawmakers claim Elon Musk could have suffered securities fraud due to ignoring the deadly aspects of Neuralink testing. They believe that this would be a violation of SEC rules designed to protect investors from material omissions and errors associated with the purchase or sale of an asset.
Elon Musk and numerous animal cruelty complaints at Neuralink
Letter from Congressmen to which he had access Wiredwhat the death of animals is directly related to safety and the competitiveness of the Neuralink brain chip. Therefore, they say, it is critical that the company’s investors receive accurate information.
The nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine also asked the SEC last September to investigate Elon Musk for securities fraud. A former Neuralink employee spoke about this. WIRED The idea that terminal monkeys were used in the experiments is absurd: “We had these monkeys for about a year before we did any surgery on them,” he said.
In September, Elon Musk and Neuralink began recruiting volunteers start testing their brain chips on people. The process began after the company received approval from an independent review board to conduct human trials. Neuralink is looking for adults with paralysis.
The company intends to implement small brain chipshas already been tested on monkeys and other animals to treat diseases such as paralysis and blindness. At one point, Musk said that in the long term he wanted to cure schizophrenia or depression.
Security Doubts
The safety of the device was questioned everywhere. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) delayed final approval of Neuralink for human testing until 2022 because it believed some aspects of the chip could be dangerous. In his report, he discussed the possibility that the device could move to other parts of the brain or even overheat.
Other studies published Reuters Last December, he assured that the number of dead animals was much higher. General, The company reportedly killed about 1,500 animals, including more than 280 sheep, pigs and monkeys. experiments have been carried out since 2018. Reuters provides estimates from sources associated with the tests. Because of similar allegations, the USDA inspector general launched a new investigation last year at the request of federal prosecutors.
But Elon Musk managed to solve these problems and move forward with the Neuralink experiment. In fact, it was revealed that the FDA has approved additional trials planned for 2024. Neuralink said it plans to conduct 11 operations in 2024, 27 in 2025 and 79 in 2026, according to documents provided to investors. From here on, the idea is to scale up dramatically: They estimate that 499 operations will be performed in 2027, and in 2030 the number will reach 22,204..
The first phase of the study will begin in 2024 and will testing the brain-computer interface. The goal is to test that this mechanism allows people with paralysis to control a computer cursor or keyboard using only their thoughts.
Source: Hiper Textual
