Dec 7, 2022 08:32 AM
The visible trail might stop with ex-employees and their grievances, but an invisible one goes back a lot further.
- - - - - - - -
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/12/...surgeries/
INTRO: Elon Musk's brain-computer interface company Neuralink is under investigation by the US Department of Agriculture for possible animal welfare violations amid allegations from current and former employees that the company abused animals in slapdash research leading to "hack job" surgeries spurred by Musk's rushed timelines.
That's all according to an exclusive investigation published late Monday by Reuters, which reviewed internal Neuralink documents and records and interviewed over 20 current and former Neuralink employees.
Overall, employees blamed the avoidable accidents on Musk pushing researchers for faster progress with rushed timelines and deadlines.
In emails sent earlier this year, Musk sent employees a news article about a rival company making progress on an implant that allowed a paralyzed man to walk. Ten minutes later, he sent another email saying: "In general, we are simply not moving fast enough. It is driving me nuts!"
Three people also told Reuters that Musk has, on multiple occasions, told staff to pretend there's a bomb strapped to their heads as a motivation to work faster. At another point, he allegedly said he would trigger a "market failure" if the company didn't move faster, which employees interpreted as a threat to shut the company down.
In all, Neuralink has killed roughly 1,500 animals since 2018, including pigs, monkeys, and more than 280 sheep, according to Reuters. The outlet noted that a rival, Synchron, has made better progress using far fewer animals—only about 80 sheep... (MORE - missing details)
RELATED (scivillage): https://www.scivillage.com/thread-8995-p...l#pid54930
- - - - - - - -
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/12/...surgeries/
INTRO: Elon Musk's brain-computer interface company Neuralink is under investigation by the US Department of Agriculture for possible animal welfare violations amid allegations from current and former employees that the company abused animals in slapdash research leading to "hack job" surgeries spurred by Musk's rushed timelines.
That's all according to an exclusive investigation published late Monday by Reuters, which reviewed internal Neuralink documents and records and interviewed over 20 current and former Neuralink employees.
Overall, employees blamed the avoidable accidents on Musk pushing researchers for faster progress with rushed timelines and deadlines.
In emails sent earlier this year, Musk sent employees a news article about a rival company making progress on an implant that allowed a paralyzed man to walk. Ten minutes later, he sent another email saying: "In general, we are simply not moving fast enough. It is driving me nuts!"
Three people also told Reuters that Musk has, on multiple occasions, told staff to pretend there's a bomb strapped to their heads as a motivation to work faster. At another point, he allegedly said he would trigger a "market failure" if the company didn't move faster, which employees interpreted as a threat to shut the company down.
In all, Neuralink has killed roughly 1,500 animals since 2018, including pigs, monkeys, and more than 280 sheep, according to Reuters. The outlet noted that a rival, Synchron, has made better progress using far fewer animals—only about 80 sheep... (MORE - missing details)
RELATED (scivillage): https://www.scivillage.com/thread-8995-p...l#pid54930