Neuralink, which developed the brain-machine interface, of which Elon Musk is the co-founder, has recently come to the fore with big news. The organization, which aims to implant a chip in the human brain and especially to help those who have lost a skill, shared the results of its experiments on animals.
But Neuralink conducted all of its experiments on animals before starting human trials. While it is known that some animals died in the company’s experiments, the exact number was never disclosed. Today, it turns out that Neuralink has already started an investigation on this issue.
An investigation has been initiated against Neuralink:
It has been learned that the US Department of Agriculture’s Office of the Inspector General has launched an investigation against Neuralink in recent months at the request of the federal prosecutor. According to information quoted by Reuters, the investigation will focus specifically on compliance with the Animal Welfare Act.
But the real news came out with the work of Reuters: More than 1500 animals may have been killed!
Reuters contacted and conducted a study on more than 20 unnamed new and existing employees at Neuralink. Company messages, audio recordings, e-mails, presentations and reports were submitted to Reuters by employees.
When the documents were examined, a terrible picture was encountered: It was revealed that Neuralink had killed a total of 1500 animals during the experiments since 2018. It was shared that 280 of these animals were sheep, pigs and monkeys. Other animals are thought to be the bats and mice used in the experiments.
In fact, killing animals in experiments is considered normal by law, but the scale is different:
The fact that Neuralink has killed so many animals doesn’t mean it’s actually breaking a law. But former and current employees say the death toll is high because of Musk’s desire to speed up research.
According to one employee, due to the acceleration of the work, many things planned in the calendar were pushed forward, and last-minute changes were made before the surgeries. In other words, if it had progressed at normal speed, the number of animal deaths could have been much less.
Neuralink has not yet made a statement on the subject. Earlier this year, the company made the following statement:
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