Within six months, according to Elon Musk, the brain chip will be eligible for human trials. Meanwhile, here’s an inside look into Elon Musk’s Neuralink tests that left monkeys dying & chewing off fingers.
After some lab monkeys supposedly died and others reportedly chewed off their fingers, Elon Musk claims his brain chip implant will be tested on humans within six months.
After experiments revealed that a monkey could play the computer game Pong with its thoughts, Neuralink technology has already stunned the globe.
Neuralink has acknowledged that monkeys died while working on the project, but has always refuted claims of animal cruelty.
Musk, the CEO of Twitter, said he wants to create the implant to enable people with disabilities move, communicate, and potentially even regain their vision.
He said that after a number of delays, the Neuralink interface software’s human clinical trials will start the next year.
Musk remarked during a speech at the company’s headquarters: “We want to be extremely careful and certain that it will work before putting a device into a human.”
But recently, activists launched a lawsuit, saying it held proof that the macaques used in earlier trials had endured terrible suffering.
The US Department of Agriculture received the documents earlier in 2022 from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
They stated that the animals had endured “extreme suffering” with one monkey having holes bored into its skull.
In order to test whether the monkeys could operate technology with their thoughts, Neuralink implanted brain chips in their heads.
But 15 out of 23 monkeys supposedly died during the experiment.
One monkey was discovered with missing fingers and toes, potentially the result of self-mutilation, according to court documents.
Another case was a female macaque monkey who experienced vomiting, retching, and gasping after having electrodes placed in her brain.
A subsequent autopsy revealed the monkey had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage.
According to court documents, the results included additional horrifying adverse effects like monkeys collapsing and bloody skin infections.
Neuralink collaborated with researchers from the University of California, Davis to carry out its experiments on monkeys.
The Californian university is fighting in court to release a collection of 371 graphic images of the monkeys who were allegedly killed or hurt during the tests.
There is a need to raise public awareness of the suffering of the monkeys, according to Ryan Merkley of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine advocacy group.
He said: “UC Davis thinks the public is too stupid to know what they’re looking at.
“But it’s clear the university is simply trying to hide from taxpayers the fact that it partnered with Elon Musk to conduct experiments in which animals suffered and died.
“These photos are public records created with public funds, and the public deserves access to the research they paid for.”
Neuralink defended its testing procedures in a statement issued in February, however company did acknowledge that numerous animals were put to death.
Instead of self-mutilation, it condemned animals for losing their fingers in fights with other monkeys.
“It is important to note that these accusations come from people who oppose any use of animals in research,” said Neuralink.
“Currently, all novel medical devices and treatments must be tested in animals before they can be ethically trialed in humans.
“Neuralink is not unique in this regard.”
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Now we know why Elon brought Twitter.
Did Musk know about this?
Elon isn’t cruell and he has good judgment. Monkey suffering would have been minimal and the device promising enough to be worth it.