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Neuralink under investigation for alleged transportation of contaminated devices

Elon Musk's company is under fire after an activist group alleged that Neuralink transported 'contaminated' brain implants without proper safety measures.

TJ Denzer

February 13, 2023 12:05 PM

Image via Neuralink

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Elon Musk’s brain implant company, Neuralink, is under investigation following some troubling complaints. An animal medicine activist group allegedly reported to the US Department of Transportation that Neuralink’s public records show that untrained employees transported of the company shipped “contaminated” devices that removed “infected” monkeys without safely packaging them. The Department of Transportation has since opened a probe to check into the incidents, which are said to have taken place in 2019 at the University of California, Davis.

The US Department of Transportation’s probe was reported via AP News. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is the group that made the complaint to the Department. The committee claims it obtained medical files that suggested neural devices removed from test monkeys were contaminated with antibiotic-resistant pathogens such as Staphylococcus and Klebsiella, which are capable of causing pneumonia, bloodstream infections, and meningitis. Other devices were said to have contained a human pathogen known as Corynebacterium ulcerans and even Herpes B.

“The records suggest that Neuralink’s sloppy practices pose a danger to public health and safety,” said Physicians Committee associate general counsel Deborah Dubow Press, Esq.

Neuralink is another of Elon Musk’s companies that has made waves over the last few years, making great strides in the technology of brain computing. In the past, we’ve seen some results in the form of a monkey with a Neuralink implant actually playing Pong simply with its mind, without use of any analog inputs or controllers. Elon Musk has also gone as far as to say that when Neuralink implants are fully tested and proven to be safe, he would be happy to be one of its first adopters.

Nonetheless, this spells a bit of a problem on the safety end of Neuralink brain implants. With the Department of Transportation investigating, we will follow up on any further news and information that comes out of the probe.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.