Elon Musk’s Neuralink
is under federal probe for concerns of violating animal welfare policies after
objections by the US Department of Agriculture. The company is rushing for
animal testing to achieve results after missing numerous deadlines.

This comes amid
growing dissent among Neuralink employees who claim that pressure from Elon
Musk to speed up development, resulted in making careless errors and
subsequently causing more animal deaths and suffering, Reuters reported.

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The probe news also
followed the billionaire’s announcement that he would try implanting a
Neuralink brain chip device in himself. He said that the company plans to start
human clinical trials next year. 

About 1,500 animals,
including sheep, pigs, rats, mice and monkeys have been killed in Neuralink’s
testing since 2018, according to the report.

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The employees of the
health-tech company have revealed several errors that have been made during the
testing, including using incorrect surgical glue twice which led to the death
of two monkeys. Another mistake due to lesser preparation reported was
implanting chips of the wrong size in the heads of pigs. It could not be
ascertained if the scope of the investigation covers only the alleged problems
with animal testing.

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The 51-year -old businessman
reportedly wrote to its employees “we are not moving fast enough. It is driving
me nuts!”

Neuralink is a
neurotechnology company, founded by Elon Musk in 2016. It is engaged in
building devices that would allow computers to read brain signals. This
development could help people with paralysis or who are missing hearing or
speaking senses.

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It has been a routine practice for many companies to use
animals in experiments to advance human health care and animals are killed
during the process, but in Neuralink’s case, many employees have raised
concerns that the number of deaths could be lower if Elon Musk hasn’t asked
for “speed research.”