US Lawmakers Request Probe into Neuralink’s Animal Testing Oversight

Neuralink, the brain-chip startup founded by Elon Musk, is facing scrutiny from US lawmakers over the make-up of its panel overseeing animal testing. Representatives Earl Francis Blumenauer and Adam Schiff have drafted a letter to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) requesting an investigation into the company’s oversight of experiments which resulted in the unnecessary deaths and suffering of animals.

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The lawmakers have shared the draft letter with peers to gather more signatures and plan to send it to the USDA on Monday. The draft alleges that Neuralink filled its oversight board with company employees who stand to benefit financially from the start-up securing regulatory approval for its novel brain chip. The panel approved experiments that resulted in the unnecessary deaths and suffering of animals, according to a Reuters investigation.

The lawmakers want to ensure that all facilities using animals in research and testing comply with the minimal standards of the Animal Welfare Act. Musk and Neuralink representatives, as well as spokespeople for the USDA and the agency’s inspector general, did not respond to requests for comment.

This is not the first time Neuralink has been under investigation. The USDA’s Inspector General has been investigating potential violations of the Animal Welfare Act, which governs how researchers treat and test certain types of animals. The Inspector General and the USDA did not respond to a request for comment on the progress of that investigation.

In addition, the US Department of Transportation said in February it was investigating Neuralink over the movement of hazardous pathogens. An agency spokesperson said this probe is continuing, without providing details.

USDA inspectors visited Neuralink’s California and Texas facilities in January in response to Reuters’ reporting and the queries of lawmakers, but found no issues, Reuters reported last week.

Neuralink has been trying to secure clearance to advance to human trials after a prior attempt was rejected last year by the Food and Drug Administration because of safety concerns.