More than half of the monkeys implanted with Elon Musk's Neuralink brain chip, which aims to cure neurological problems, have reportedly died.

At least 15 of the 23 monkeys implanted with Neuralink at the University of California Davis died according to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), an animal-rights group that viewed 700 pages of documents and records on the Neuralink monkey trials through a public records request.

Since its inception in 2016, Neuralink has focused on rehabilitating people who have suffered traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, treating depression and other mental health issues, and connecting people to the internet for everything from music streaming to near-telepathic communication, among other things, as per report by Consequence.

The project has attracted a great deal of interest from notable personalities as well as individuals with conditions like paralysis who volunteer to be a part of human trials.

Musk previously said that he hoped to begin human trials of the Neuralink Brain Chip Implant in 2021, but that goal has been pushed back to 2022.

Neuralink Chips Not Ready For Human Test

According to PCRM's findings, the Neuralink Brain Chip Implants seem far from ready for human testing based on the discovered Neuralink monkey suffering. The group's research advocacy director Jeremy Beckham said that each monkey that got the chips implanted in their head "suffered from pretty debilitating health effects" that were "killing" them.

Neuralink Brain Chip Implant was installed in the monkeys by drilling holes into their skulls. One of them developed a serious skin infection and got euthanized. Another monkey, which got euthanized also, was seen to have missing fingers and toes that were most likely from self-mutilation and other "unspecified trauma."

A third primate, according to the reports, had uncontrollable vomiting after the surgery and appeared to collapse days later. An autopsy revealed that a brain hemorrhage caused the condition.

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Elon Musk's Neuralink Charged With Animal Cruelty

The PCRM with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) would file an administrative action against Neuralink and the University of California, Davis, which assisted in the Neuralink monkey trials.

The USDA investigates several incidents of alleged maltreatment of monkeys by both Neuralink and UC Davis workers, which regulates animal research under the Animal Welfare Act, per Fortune.

The complaint cites the university's animal care records and the alleged animal cruelty resulting in chronic infections caused by surgery, psychological discomfort, and "extreme suffering."

One spokesperson of UC Davis claimed that the university's partnership with Neuralink had ended in 2020 and said that the university's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee had meticulously "reviewed" the protocols of the controversial research.

Since 2005, PCRM has actively opposed animal research and has launched lawsuits against a number of academic institutions, mostly to get public records about animal experiments.

After filing a separate case in California Superior Court last May alleging that UC Davis was withholding the records from the group in violation of the California Public Records Act. PCRM finally recently obtained the university's animal care records related to Neuralink's study.

According to USA Today, Neuralink's ultimate goal is to create a "brain-computer interface" that allows users to wirelessly transmit and receive data between their brain and a computer.

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