Neuralink is accused by the US administration of potential violations of the welfare of animals used by the firm to develop its brain implants.
Neuralink is the subject of an investigation launched by the Inspector General of the United States Department of Agriculture. The administration is seeking to identify whether, during the tests carried out on behalf of its research, the start-up would not have mistreated animals.
1,500 dead animals since 2018
It must be said that the number of guinea pigs who died during Neuralink’s experiments is substantial. According to internal documents obtained by the press agency Reuters, some 1,500 animals have died since 2018 during the company’s research. In this cohort, there are 280 pigs, sheep and monkeys.
And even if deaths are inevitable in view of the object of work of Neuralink which, let us remember, aims to develop brain implants intended to enhance human cognitive abilities, certain losses raise questions.
Reuters claims to have identified the “unnecessary” deaths of 86 pigs and two monkeys. Due to human errors, the tests carried out on these guinea pigs should have been repeated, automatically increasing the number of victims. And it is this kind of error that is discussed by the survey.
Elon Musk’s pressures pointed out
Indeed, the question is whether the pressure put by Elon Musk to quickly achieve results would not be the source of a problem. Some internal communications suggest so. One of them emanating from an angry collaborator explains that the hasty surgical interventions carried out by employees who are not sufficiently prepared and stressed have led to several errors.
Among the examples cited, the operation of two pigs which were to receive the brain-machine interface and in which the latter was placed on the wrong vertebra. A basic fault, witness to the atmosphere of rush perpetual within the company, since it was enough simply to count the vertebrae to find the right location…
For his part Elon Musk defends himself from any botching. ” Before we even think about putting a device in an animal, we go to great lengths with rigorous bench testing. We are not cavalier about implanting these devices in animals. We are extremely careful and we always want the device, each time we implant – whether in a sheep, a pig or a monkey – to be a confirmation and not an exploration. “, he explained at a recent event, held to announce the proximity of Neuralink tests on human brains.
Source : Engadget
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