It has been revealed that the massive project Neuralink by Elon Musk managed to raise a lot of money before the trials are set to start in 2024. Check out the latest reports about the matter below.
Elon Musk’s Neuralink
Neuralink, Elon Musk’s company that is developing a brain implant, has received additional funding as it prepares to begin human trials. According to an SEC filing last week, Neuralink has raised $43 million, bringing the total amount raised to over $323 million.
The latest funding round was led by billionaire investor Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, with a total of 32 investors contributing to the funding.
The implant, which will be placed through a patient’s skull into their brain, is designed to monitor brain activity using a microchip.
Neuralink received FDA approval in May to begin testing the implant on humans, with 11 participants selected from thousands of applicants for the first trials scheduled for next year.
Neuralink, the company founded by Elon Musk, has recently secured new funding. However, the company is currently facing criticism over the alleged mistreatment of monkeys used for testing its chips. Before undergoing the implant procedure, twelve monkeys reportedly suffered various health issues, ultimately leading to their euthanasia.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, an animal-rights group, claims to have records indicating that the monkeys were subjected to extreme suffering. Additionally, veterinary records reveal that the euthanized monkeys showed symptoms such as infections and brain swelling.
Musk said in September that “no monkey has died as a result of Neuralink’s chips.”
He added in the X comment responding to a user: “First our early implants, to minimize risk to healthy monkeys, we chose terminal moneys (close to death already).”
It is also important to note the fact that Musk also once declared that the chip means “the Luke Skywalker solution can become real” when combined with the limbs of Tesla’s robot Optimus and could help save humanity from the threat of AI.
