US federal authorities have launched an investigation into Neuralink, a company owned by entrepreneur Elon Musk, Reuters reports.

According to agency sources, the reason for the actions of the competent authorities are reports of animal experiments.

According to the agency, the investigation was undertaken by the USDA's Office of Inspector General.

It was in response to complaints by company officials about violations of US laws governing animal testing.

The service reviewed several dozen company documents and spoke with 20 former and current Neuralink employees.

According to the interviewees, the tests were carried out in a hurry, causing unnecessary suffering and death to animals, including because of Musk's desire to speed up the development of new medical products.

About 1,500 animals have died during the experiments since 2018, including more than 280 sheep, pigs and monkeys.

Besides them, mice and rats were subjected to experiments.

It has been suggested that Musk's company does not strictly account for the animals destroyed.

Musk begins testing a brain chip on humans

The Neuralink startup was created by Musk in July 2016 to unite the efforts of leading experts in the development of neural interfaces.

The goal is the creation of robots that allow the implantation of an almost unlimited number of electrodes in the brain in a fully automatic mode.

In the long run, such neural interfaces will allow humans to challenge artificial intelligence.

They will also help people learn how to directly control a computer using the power of thought.

In February 2021, Neuralink conducted a study of the chip on monkeys.

According to the company, the contact with the chip is via "iPhone".

The experts studied and deciphered the relationship of neural activity with certain actions, which allowed them to reproduce the feedback.

Thus, a monkey was taught to move the cursor on the screen without the help of a joystick, notes BTA.

Elon Musk