Elon Musk’s Neuralink is being sued by a national physicians association for the injury it allegedly caused to macaque monkeys used in testing the technology at the University of California, Davis.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) claims that Neuralink’s experimental technology and testing at UC Davis, funded by taxpayer cash, resulted in the monkeys suffering serious health problems and death as a result of implanted electrodes in their brains. The chips for the brand’s “brain-machine interface” were made by Neuralink.
Musk and a group of professionals in neuroscience, biochemistry, and robotics co-founded Neuralink in 2016. In 2017, the firm name was registered as a trademark. According to prior reporting by Ars Technica, Musk has stated that the goal of the brain implant is to someday connect human minds with artificial intelligence and computers, similar to the so-called neural lace portrayed in author Ian M. Banks’ “Culture” novels.
In a California court, PCRM filed a request for access to a set of records, requesting copies of films and images of the monkeys during testing. The Animal Welfare Act was allegedly breached by Neuralink, according to the group’s complaint to the US Department of Agriculture.
UC Davis has so far refused to release the visual records to PCRM, apparently stating that the materials belong to Neuralink and that as a private corporation, they are not subject to public records regulations. However, the tests are being conducted at a lab that is part of the California National Primate Research Center and is supported by taxpayers. The monkeys are cared for by the research centre, and Neuralink’s testing are conducted in the Neuroscience Behavior Unit, which is part of the lab.
Due to UC Davis’ unwillingness to give the “required disposition data, pictures, or video footage” in 2021, PCRM relied on written medical records for each of the macaque monkeys in their complaint to the USDA.
PCRM obtained 600 pages of medical documents for the 23 test monkeys used by Neuralink, alleging that the tech business and UC Davis had failed to properly care for the monkeys, resulting in their injury, suffering, and death. Hundreds of pages of records contain test results for physical and psychological health, most of which are handwritten by the monkeys’ carers. The files describe the macaques’ transport as “animal delivered to Neuralink” and detail their behaviour before and after the implant.
PCRM obtained 600 pages of medical documents for the 23 test monkeys used by Neuralink, alleging that the tech business and UC Davis had failed to properly care for the monkeys, resulting in their injury, suffering, and death. Hundreds of pages of records contain test results for physical and psychological health, most of which are handwritten by the monkeys’ carers. The files describe the macaques’ transport as “animal delivered to Neuralink” and detail their behaviour before and after the implant.
Sedation has been described as a result of vomiting before to a physical examination. Other pages detail the requirements to rehabilitate a macaque following various injuries. After receiving the Neuralink cranial implants, monkeys were given dexamethasone, an anti-inflammatory medicine, as well as diphenhydramine, an antihistamine.
The medications were given to the monkeys after they began scratching their heads and itchy as a result of the test procedures. Some of the described traumas and behavioural alterations were reported as “resolved” over time while at the Neuralink facility.
According to a copy of the complaint obtained by PCRM, the organization’s attorneys contend that due to the labs’ financing status, Neuralink and UC Davis must turn over footage and records. PCRM has already acquired records detailing abuse of the macaques, including a “failure” to provide proper veterinary care and the use of “an unauthorised chemical known as ‘Bioglue,’ which killed monkeys by dissolving sections of their brains.”
Bioglue is a surgical adhesive that works in a similar way to stitches or surgical staples in facilitating the body’s recuperation from surgery. CryoLife of Kennesaw, Ga., manufactures the medicine, which has only gained premarket approval from the FDA, indicating that it is still in the testing phase and requires additional checks “to verify the safety and effectiveness” before being offered to patients or consumers.
Musk owns Neuralink, and UC Davis is said to have kept the documents “under the guise of preventing a chilling effect on academic research.” According to the PCRM lawsuit, the tech company, on the other hand, often posts videos and photographs of its tests on social media, in the press, and in other online venues.