Most Monkeys With Elon Musk's Neuralink Experiment Died, Report Says

The Neuralink biotech company owned by billionaire Elon Musk has been developing a device designed to be embedded in humans' grey matter to monitor and potentially stimulate brain activity and help people recover from brain and spinal cord injuries.

Fifteen out of 23 monkeys that were implanted with Neuralink brain chips at the University of California Davis in 2017-2020 have died, media reported, citing the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) animal-rights group.

After studying veterinary records previously requested from the university, the group reportedly came to the conclusion that the monkeys used in the Neuralink experiment were mistreated and were subjected to "extreme suffering."

“Pretty much every single monkey that had had implants put in their head suffered from pretty debilitating health effects...They were, frankly, maiming and killing the animals," the PCRM’s research advocacy director Jeremy Beckham said, quoted by the New York Post. Also, in an interview with Business Insider, Beckham said that the remaining seven monkeys that survived the experiment were transported to a Neuralink facility in 2020 before the company cut its cooperation with the university.

The group filed a draft complaint with the Department of Agriculture to launch an investigation into the experiment, citing potential violations of the US Animal Welfare Act. While Neuralink has not yet officially commented on the matter, a UC Davis spokesperson told the New York Post that the university’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee had “thoroughly reviewed and approved” the project.

To show progress in the experiment, Neuralink released a video last year showing a healthy-looking monkey apparently using a brain chip to play the video game "Pong." In December 2021, Musk said Neuralink expected to start human testing this year.