A Neuralink Human-Improved Robot for Brain Brain Computer Interfacing and Surgery: An Response to a Musk Dispatch

Neuralink states in a post on its website that it wants to provide people the ability to control a computer with their thoughts alone. The clinical trial will test the safety of the company’s implant and surgical robot and assess the BCI’s functionality.

Neuralink did not give a location for the trial, and company representatives did not reply to an email asking for an interview.

Neuralink’s coin-sized implant is not visible when implanted, according to the company. It has 64 threads, each weighing less than a human hair, and it records neural activity using 1,024 electrodes.

The robot will place an implant in the brain that controls movement intention. Once in place, the implant is designed to record and transmit brain signals wirelessly to an app that decodes movement intention.

At a Neuralink “show and tell” last November, Musk spoke about two possible use cases for the implant: to help people with paralysis control tech devices and to restore vision. There was no mention in the release of the vision device.

Wired writes that the documents show a male monkey was euthanized in March 2020 “after his cranial implant became loose,” with the necropsy revealing “the failure of this implant can be considered purely mechanical and not exacerbated by infection.”

The PCRM sued UC Davis to get the documents from the California National Primate Research Center to argue against using live animals in research. Those are now posted on its website and cited in the letters it sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday accusing Musk of securities fraud, referencing the reported $280 million Neuralink has raised from investors to create a brain computer interface. A spokesperson for UC Davis declined to comment to Wired.

A former Neuralink employee claims that Musk’s claim on X that Neuralink’s animal subjects are very close to death is a straight fabrication. We had monkeys before any surgery was performed, they say. The ex-employee, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, says up to a year’s worth of behavioral training was necessary for the program, a time frame that would exempt subjects already close to death’s door.

The Neuralink startup has claimed that there have been no monkeys died because of the implant, as well as having said that they would use test subjects to reduce risk to healthy monkeys. However, Wired cites an anonymous former employee saying that is not true:

“They are claiming they are going to put a safe device on the market, and that’s why you should invest,” Ryan Merkley, who leads the Physicians Committee’s research into animal-testing alternatives, tells WIRED. He is a way to whitewash what happened in the exploratory studies.

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Musk’s post on X about Neuralink’s monkeys has been viewed more than 760,000 times, and the Physicians Committee notes in its letters that when the SEC charged Musk with securities fraud related to Tesla in 2018, the agency argued that his account was a source of investor news. The SEC has jurisdiction over the sale of any securities, including those offered by privately held companies such as Neuralink. Recent filings show the company has raised more than $280 million from outside investors.