Elon Musk's mind chip firm, Neuralink, has been accused of working "invasive and lethal mind experiments" on almost two dozen monkeys by an animal rights group.
The Physicians Committee for Accountable Medication (PCRM) — an American medical nonprofit organisation — has filed a grievance with the US Division of Agriculture (USDA) in opposition to the College of California, Davis, for allegedly violating the Animal Welfare Act. The college obtained greater than US$1.4 million ($1.96 million) from Neuralink to hold out the experiments.
In an announcement launched earlier this week, PCRM stated the grievance relies on "virtually 600 pages of disturbing paperwork", and that a lot of the 23 monkeys the experiments have been performed on between 2017 and 2020 had elements of their skulls eliminated.
Moreover, in accordance with Enterprise Insider and different publications, solely seven of the monkeys survived.
"The paperwork reveal that monkeys had their brains mutilated in shoddy experiments and have been left to endure and die," Jeremy Beckham, a analysis advocacy coordinator with the PCRM, stated.
Whereas Neuralink is but to run trials on people, a job itemizing final month recommended the corporate was nearing that stage.
"You may work intently with a few of the most modern docs and high engineers, in addition to working with Neuralink's first medical trial members!" the medical trial director job advert stated.
Musk has beforehand acknowledged a aim of merging synthetic intelligence with people, and stated on Twitter his firm's mind chips would permit folks with paralysis to make use of a smartphone with their thoughts sooner than anybody may with their palms.
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He has additionally flagged the opportunity of utilizing the expertise to revive mind and motor operate for folks with a incapacity or those that have been injured.