© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The Neuralink logo and image of Elon Musk are seen in this illustration taken on December 19, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvik/Illustration/File photo
Written by Rachel Levy
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers will ask regulators to investigate whether the creation of the panel overseeing animal experiments at Elon Musk’s brain-chip startup Neuralink contributed to failed and hasty experiments.
U.S. House of Representatives Earl Francis Blumenauer and Adam Schiff, both Democrats, signed a draft letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requesting an investigation into how Neuralink oversaw its experiments, Blumenauer’s office said.
Lawmakers shared the draft with their peers to gather more signatures and plan to send it to the USDA on Monday. The draft states that it is responding to a story published by Reuters on May 4 that revealed that Neuralink had filled its oversight board with company employees who would benefit financially from the startup receiving regulatory approval for its new brain chip.
And Reuters showed in an article published on the fifth of December (December) that the committee approved the experiments that resulted in unnecessary death and suffering for the animals. A spokesperson for Blumenauer said the USDA did not respond to a previous request from lawmakers for an investigation into Neuralink in the wake of that story.
The draft letter states, “Congress has a keen interest in ensuring that all facilities that use animals for research and testing—whether they are operated by government, universities, or private companies—comply with the minimum standards of the Animal Welfare Act.”
Representatives for Musk, Neuralink, spokespeople for the USDA, and the agency’s inspector general did not respond to requests for comment.
Neuralink has already been the subject of federal investigations. Reuters reported on December 5 that the USDA inspector general was investigating, at the request of a federal prosecutor, possible violations of the Animal Welfare Act, which governs how researchers handle and test certain types of animals. This investigation was also looking at the USDA’s oversight of Neuralink.
The Inspector General and the USDA did not respond to a request for comment on the progress of this investigation.
The US Department of Transportation said in February that it was investigating Neuralink for the movement of dangerous pathogens. An agency spokesperson said the investigation is continuing, without providing details.
USDA inspectors visited Neuralink facilities in California and Texas in January in response to Reuters reports and lawmakers’ inquiries, but found no problems, Reuters reported last week.
Neuralink is trying to get clearance to advance to human trials after an earlier bid was rejected by the Food and Drug Administration last year due to safety concerns.