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

Elon Musk, founder of Neuralink, a brain-computer interface company, has repeatedly asked employees to imagine a "bomb tied to their head" to work harder because they don't act fast enough, according to people familiar with the matter.

Three people familiar with the matter said they had heard Musk make similar comments several times over the past few years. A former Neuralink employee recalled Musk telling employees that if they didn't speed up, he would detonate a "market failure" within the company. Many employees see this as a threat of "shutdown."

Earlier this year, Musk told employees in an email that the company wasn't moving fast enough,"It's driving me crazy! "

Internal documents and interviews with more than 20 current and former employees reveal employees believe Musk's efforts to speed up Neuralink technology led to faulty experiments and increased the number of animals killed in testing. Neuralink-related experiments have killed about 1500 animals.

Neuralink is being investigated by the USDA inspector general at the request of a federal prosecutor, two people familiar with the matter said. The investigation focused on whether Neuralink violated the Animal Welfare Act, which regulates how researchers treat and test animals.

Neither Neuralink nor a USDA spokesman responded to requests for comment.

Before news of the federal investigation broke, the nonprofit Committee for Responsible Physicians said earlier this year that it had obtained records showing that many monkeys experienced extreme pain due to inadequate animal care and highly invasive experimental head implants during Neuralink experiments.

Last week, Musk explained concerns about Neuralink's treatment of its test subjects at a demo event. He said the monkeys who participated in the test "actually enjoyed doing demonstrations" because they were rewarded.

Musk co-founded Neuralink in 2016. The billionaire has said in the past that Neuralink's chips could do many things in the future, including helping heal paralysis and giving people telepathic abilities.

But the company's efforts appear to have fallen behind competitors. Synchron, another brain-computer interface startup, launched human trials in Melbourne, Australia, in 2019 and beat Musk's company earlier this year to implant its first device in American patients.

Musk, meanwhile, has failed to meet his self-imposed goal since 2019 of when Neuralink will begin implanting its devices into human brains. In August, it was reported that the billionaire had approached rival Synchron about a possible investment.

It's not the first time Musk has urged employees to work hard, as he's known for setting lofty goals at both Tesla and SpaceX. Recently, Musk called on Twitter employees to participate in "long hours, high-intensity hard work" and even encouraged employees to work all night in the office.

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