Medical Experts Urge Caution for Neuralink’s Human Trial Volunteers

In his email, Merkley brought up the FDA’s previous worries about Neuralink’s prototypes. They were concerned that the electrodes might move around in the brain and that taking the device out could be tricky. He suggested that Musk’s company should focus on making a brain-computer interface that doesn’t require surgery, which is something other researchers have already started working on.

As Wired pointed out, if the SEC decides to investigate Neuralink, it would be the third time that a federal agency has looked into how the company tests its products on animals. Reuters reported on complaints from staff about how the tests were done on pigs in December 2022, and last February, the US Department of Transportation started its investigation into Neuralink.

This investigation was about claims that the company transported dangerous pathogens without proper safety measures when they removed implants from monkeys’ brains.

During a Neuralink presentation last year, Musk said that the company’s tests on animals were never done just to see what would happen. He said they always made informed decisions and were very concerned about the safety of the animals they tested on. Musk made it clear that they didn’t take the matter lightly and were careful when it came to putting devices into animals.

He even mentioned a video where a monkey was using a computer keyboard with a Neuralink implant, saying that the monkey enjoyed doing the demonstration and was not restrained in any way. During the presentation, Musk wanted to reassure both the investors and the audience that they were being extremely cautious in their approach.