Feds Probing Elon Musk’s Neuralink Over Animal Abuse Claims: Report

Federal investigators are circling Neuralink, the neurotech startup founded by Elon Musk, probing it for potential violations of animal welfare laws, according to Reuters, with more than 20 current and former employees telling the outlet that experiments were rushed and botched in a work culture that prioritized results above all else. The federal probe into Neuralink, which has scrambled in recent days to portray itself as a company that prizes humane testing, was opened this year by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Inspector General at the request of a federal prosecutor, two insiders said. Roughly 1,500 animals have been killed in tests since 2018, the outlet reported, with staffers saying that figure is higher than was necessary for scientific purposes. Risks to the test subjects—which included sheep, pigs, monkeys, rats, and mice—were exacerbated as stressed employees tried to meet deadlines, resulting in what one former employee angrily termed “hack jobs” in an internal message seen by Reuters. Even worse, the tests contaminated by human error mandated that they be repeated, putting more animals in danger, three sources said.