In October 2018, veterinarians at the University of California, Davis approved Animal 13 for use in Neuralink experiments. She was 6 years old when she received the Neuralink implant. According to a pre-project physical exam and echocardiogram, Davis’ staff observed no medical abnormalities before her surgery, only a superficial scratch on her lip as part of a “suspect fight.” It was noted that there was only minor lip trauma.
Starting in November 2018, Animal 13 was regularly sedated with ketamine and connected to scientific equipment for “neurological recordings.” After those sessions over the next month, Davis staff observed that the skin near the implant felt warm to the touch, records show.
Over the next three months, her implant became infected. She was euthanized in March 2019. Her autopsy recorded “numerous bacterial cultures” and evidence of swelling in her brain.
Doctoral candidates who conducted research at the California National Primate Research Center (CNPRC) in Davis told WIRED in September that in their view, “there is no real indication that these animals were terminal; , their age suggests they were not terminally ill.” ” The doctoral candidate added that without more information “there is no real way” to be sure.
“Scope of Work and Budget” documents between Neuralink and the University of California, Davis, reviewed by WIRED, give some context to Musk’s claims that certain animals may have been terminally ill before surgery. It gives legitimacy. The document details how much Neuralink was to pay for labor, equipment and primates for each stage of the experiment at the University of California, Davis. “The first stage of this research will be to test and refine the implantable device,” the document says, adding that these tests will be conducted “ideally using culled animals.” It is explained that.
The document goes on to say that the six adult rhesus macaques that were scheduled to receive “terminal treatment” at this stage are “in good health,” but a doctor WIRED spoke to said the budget was not sufficient for this. It was pointed out that the monkeys in the group were shown to be discounted. “This is because they are animals that are considered terminally ill,” they say.
However, the doctor explained that animals 11 and 13 were likely not included in this stage of Neuralink’s experiment because they were intended to survive the initial transplant surgery.
Neuralink did not respond to requests for comment for this article or previous reporting on the Davis experiment.
This week’s letter from the Board of Physicians is the second time the board has filed a letter with federal regulators seeking a securities fraud investigation into Musk’s comments about Neuralink’s monkeys. After Musk made similar remarks about Neuralink’s experiment in a post on the social networking app X (formerly Twitter), the organization issued a letter claiming that Neuralink’s CEO was intentionally misleading investors. Sent to SEC. Four members of the U.S. House of Representatives also asked the SEC to investigate these claims about whether Musk committed securities fraud.
“When dealing with allegations of animal welfare violations as egregious as those brought against Mr. Musk, greater urgency is needed to hold Mr. Musk accountable,” U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer said. told WIRED in a statement last month.
The SEC told Blumenauer last week that it could neither confirm nor deny whether it was investigating Musk’s comments.
“Mr. Musk continues to make false and misleading claims about Neuralink’s experiments on monkeys,” the Physicians Committee’s letter claims. “We urge the SEC to investigate this matter and issue appropriate penalties to Neuralink and Musk.”
