ELON Musk says his brain chip implant will be trialled on humans within six months – after lab monkeys allegedly died and others chewed off their fingers.
The Neuralink technology has already shocked the world after tests showed a monkey playing video game pong with its thoughts.
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Neuralink has admitted monkeys died during the project – but has always denied allegations of animal cruelty.
Twitter boss Musk says he wants to develop the implant to help disabled patients move and communicate again and possibly restore vision.
Human clinical trials of the Neuralink interface software is set to begin next year, he revealed, following a series of delays.
In a speech at the company headquarters, Musk said “We want to be extremely careful and certain that it will work before putting a device into a human.”
“The progress at first, particularly as it applies to humans, will seem perhaps agonisingly slow, but we are doing all of the things to bring it to scale in parallel.”
Based in San Francisco Bay Area and Austin, Texas, Neuralink has been conducting tests on animals as it seeks approval from the US Food and Drug Administration.
But recently campaigners filed a lawsuit claiming it had evidence macaques used in previous trials were subjected to horrific suffering.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine filed the documents with the US Department of Agriculture earlier in 2022.
They claimed the animals were subject “extreme suffering” – with one monkey having holes drilled in its skull.
Neuralink’s brain chips were implanted in the monkeys’ heads to see if they could control technology with their thoughts.
However, the experiment allegedly left 15 out of 23 monkeys dead.
In one instance, a monkey was found missing some fingers and toes, possibly caused by self-mutilation, legal papers claim.
Another case revealed a female macaque monkey had the electrodes implanted into its brain, which caused it to be overcome with vomiting, retching and gasping.
An autopsy later showed the monkey suffered from a brain haemorrhage.
Bloody skin infections, monkeys collapsing and other horrific side effects were also recorded in the results, according to court papers.
Neuralink conducted its monkey experiments in partnership with scientists at the University of California, Davis.
A legal battle is being pursued for the Californian university to release a cache of 371 grisly photographs of the monkeys reportedly killed or injured in the experiments.
Ryan Merkley, of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine advocacy group, said the public needs to be made aware of the monkeys’ suffering.
He said: “UC Davis thinks the public is too stupid to know what they’re looking at.
“But it’s clear the university is simply trying to hide from taxpayers the fact that it partnered with Elon Musk to conduct experiments in which animals suffered and died.
“These photos are public records created with public funds, and the public deserves access to the research they paid for.”
The Sun has reached Neuralink for comment.
In a statement released in February, Neuralink defended its testing measures – but admitted several animals were euthanised.
It blamed animals losing their fingers as a result of fighting with other monkeys, rather than self mutilation.
“It is important to note that these accusations come from people who oppose any use of animals in research,” said Neuralink.
“Currently, all novel medical devices and treatments must be tested in animals before they can be ethically trialed in humans.
“Neuralink is not unique in this regard.”
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