Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

On September 29, an animal rights group is suing the University of California, Davis, for conducting brutal animal experiments for Neuralink, a brain-computer interface company owned by Elon Musk. The group says the university has 371 photos related to Neuralink's experiments on monkeys.

The Council of responsible Medical Physicians (PCRM), an animal rights group, claims that the University of California, Davis has 185photos related to the anatomy of animals that died in the Neuralink experiment, as well as another 186photos of brutal experiments on monkeys, including digging holes in monkeys' skulls and implanting electrodes into their brains.

PCRM said they learned of the existence of the photos through a legal document dated September 7, 2022 at the University of California, Davis. Between 2017 and 2020, Neuralink paid $1.4 million to the University of California, Davis, to use its facilities to conduct animal experiments, the group said.

"the University of California, Davis thinks the public is too stupid to know what they are doing," said Ryan Merkley, director of PCRM research advocacy. "but it is clear that the university is just trying to hide from taxpayers the fact that it is working with Musk to conduct experiments that lead to animal abuse and even death."

A spokesman for Neuralink did not respond to a request for comment, while a spokesman for the University of California, Davis reiterated its February statement. At the time, the agency said that during its cooperation with Neuralink, the school's Experimental Animal Management and use Committee conducted a thorough review and approval of the research program.

"Animal research is strictly regulated and the University of California, Davis complies with all applicable laws and regulations, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture," the statement said. "

The announcement came after PCRM sued the university for failing to release photos and videos of its experiments for Neuralink between 2017 and 2020. In addition, PCRM filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, alleging that the University of California, Davis violated federal animal welfare laws.

It had been reported that PCRM claimed to have obtained records showing that the monkeys experienced "extreme pain" due to inadequate animal care and highly invasive head implants in the experiment.

At the time, Neuralink responded to the allegations, denying several injuries reported by animal rights groups and saying that the company was "absolutely committed to conducting animal experiments in the most humane and ethical way". Neuralink also said that since then, it has begun to use its own in-house facilities for testing.

Neuralink is working on a computer brain interface system that can read and write brain activity. In the past, Musk claimed that AI brain chips would one day be able to do everything from curing paralysis to giving people telepathic powers, calling the device the "Fitbit on the skull".

Last year, Mr Musk said the company planned to implant the chip into humans by the end of 2021, but the device had not been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin human trials.

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