Latest / Elon Musk Podcast / Inside Neuralink's Conflicted Oversight: Investigating Potential Violations and the Quest for Brain-Implant Approval

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Inside Neuralink's Conflicted Oversight: Investigating Potential Violations and the Quest for Brain-Implant Approval · Elon Musk Podcast

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  Hey welcome back to the Elon Musk podcast in today's episode,
• 0:43
  we dive into the developing story about neurolink.
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  Elon musk's ambitious, brain implant Venture a recent reports
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  by Reuters have raised concerns about the company's animal
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  research oversight board highlighting potential conflicts
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  of interest, that may compromise research Integrity now is
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  neurolink conducts, critical animal experiments to gain
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  regulatory approval. Human trials, explore the
• 1:10
  implications of these allegations and how they could
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  impact the future of this groundbreaking technology.
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  Now neural link has been in development for a while now and
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  Elon musk's neurolink has reportedly filled its animal
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  research oversight board with company insiders, who stand to
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  benefit financially as a firm reaches developmental goals.
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  Now, according to the company documents interviews with six
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  current, And former employees. And according to Reuters, this
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  raises questions about potential violations of conflict of
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  interest regulations, aimed at protecting research Integrity, a
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  Federal Law requires organizations experimenting.
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  On certain types of animals to establish oversight boards known
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  as institutional Animal Care and use committee, the iacuc S and
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  aec. You see these are responsible
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  for ensuring proper Animal Care, High research, standards, and
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  the reliability. Lady of data that helps
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  Regulators decide whether drugs or medical devices are safe for
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  human testing. Now as of late twenty twenty
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  two, nineteen of never links iacuc.
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  These 22 members were company employees according to a company
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  document reviewed by Reuters. Now the oversight boards chair
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  was a neurolink executive who led the company's Animal Care
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  Program and at least eleven other members were employees
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  directly involved with animal care.
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  Or research. Now, details of the panel's
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  membership. In its potential conflicts have
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  not been previously reported the animal research and bioethics
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  expert said, it's rare for iacuc, these to include
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  employees with such direct Financial stakes in the research
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  outcome. This is a particular problem at
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  startups, like neurolink because they tend to focus on a single
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  breakthrough product. And commonly reward employees
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  with volatile company. Shares now neurolink staffer is
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  typically Salary and stock based incentives, according to five
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  current and former employees and knurling job ads reviewed by
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  Reuters said the same. Now some senior level employees
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  stand to make millions of dollars, if the company secures
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  critical regulatory approvals in the future now.
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  Dr. Miguel nicolelis is a neuroscientist and physician who
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  has conducted brain implant research at Duke University for
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  nearly 30 years, said the iacuc. Is overseeing his animal
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  experiments never had any role in the research.
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  The independence of such boards is critical to protecting the
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  Integrity of animal research that could impact humans in the
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  future, clinical trials. He said it's an obvious conflict
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  of interest. Now many companies Outsource
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  animal testing and oversight University is a research
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  institutes with stricter rules to prevent such conflicts of
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  interest. Now, neurolink originally
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  partnered with the University of California Davis Help conducted
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  oversee, its animal tests. However, the company later
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  abandoned the partnership after a dispute viewing, the
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  University's processes is too slow and bureaucratic according
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  to one current, and one former neurolink staffer a neuro-link,
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  then brought the research and oversight in-house, UC Davis
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  declined, to comment, underlings, new oversight board,
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  but said in a statement, that it's conflict of interest rules
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  prohibit, quote, interested parties for voting or quote,
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  Influencing decisions on such panels.
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  The US Department of Agriculture.
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  The USDA is the lead agency enforcing Animal Welfare
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  regulations and the animal research experts interviewed by
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  Reuters included, two former top.
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  USDA officials describe the agency's overall enforcement's
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  of conflict of interest rules as lakhs.
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  Now, the USDA has interpreted the rule narrowly allowing a
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  range of potential conflicts that would never be permitted.
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  In human trials, conflicts such as As those under links, iacuc
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  are typically prohibited or avoided, an animal Trails, by
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  universities research institutes, and many companies,
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  now, in response to this inquiry from Reuters, the USDA said it
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  had found no conflicts of interest underlings board.
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  When the department inspected, its animal research operations
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  during 10 inspections since 2022.
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  And the company has passed all inspections with no citations
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  according to public records and a person with knowledge of the
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  examinations of the usda's office.
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  Of Inspector General is currently investigating
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  potential Animal, Welfare violations by neurolink and
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  allegedly slipshod Animal. Welfare act enforcement by the
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  USDA itself in a joint probe with the US Department of
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  Justice. Now, the USDA and justice
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  department declined to comment on this investigation.
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  And the USDA Inspector General didn't risk.
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  Respond to requests for comment as well.
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  The joint probe is examining the company or the agency's
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  oversight of neural link and of Animal Welfare.
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  More broadly in the investigation follows a long
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  history of USDA. Oig reports including three
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  since 2014. Criticizing the animals, the
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  agency's Animal, Welfare enforcement as ineffective.
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  Now, one issue is a stretch staff.
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  The USDA and plays 122 inspectors to inspect almost
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  12,000 Silat. He's ranging from zoos and
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  breeders to Labs, according to a congressional research service
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  report last July and the USDA enforcement of conflict of
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  interest rules are pretty rare and more than 11,000 USDA
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  inspections over the past, decade the agency issued, eight
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  citations for conflicts and research Labs, none of which
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  resulted in a penalty. According to a review of the
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  Records who by somebody, who oversees the animal law and
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  policy Institute at the Vermont law in graduate school.
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  Now, the lack of enforcement. They said poses serious risk.
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  That conflicted iacuc members will put their own interests
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  before those of the animals. Now, the same person is Winters
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  said USD is really only inspecting paperwork and not
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  looking under the hood. The overly narrow
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  interpretation, that USDA is giving to the conflict of
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  interest. It's, is it illustrates a
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  problem? Now, between September of 2017
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  and December of twenty, twenty neurolink partnered with the
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  University of California Davis relying on the school's
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  federally, funded Primate, Research lab, and it's
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  established iacuc. U.s.
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  Davis received more than one point, nine million dollars from
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  neural, link for experiments before the partnership ended.
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  No, neurolink surgeons and other staffers continued to work
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  directly on the experiments in consultation with the university
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  and a u.s. Davis or UC Davis spokesperson
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  told. Reuters, that the university is
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  monitoring of neurolink. Experiments detected, an animal
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  welfare incident in 2019, prompting the University's iacuc
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  to mandate changes, in Darlings, research, protocols and
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  training. And that spokesperson said the
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  incident didn't involve UC Davis staff, but declined to comment
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  further. Now, amid tensions neurolink
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  canceled, his partnership was UC Davis in 2020, then build its
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  own animal testing facilities and created its own iacuc.
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  The company is rushed and at times botched experiments
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  especially after it brought animal experiments fully in
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  house according than neurolink staffers and Company records.
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  Now, the company's iacuc allowed neural link to accelerate animal
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  experiments in line with musk's demands three sources familiar
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  with the panel's decisions, told Reuters, now in 2021 and 2022.
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  The company killed about two hundred and fifty sheep pigs and
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  primates. He's now in one instance in
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  2021, the company implanted, 20 out of 60 pigs with the wrong
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  size devices. A neuro-link employees said, the
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  error could have been avoided with better prep.
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  Preparation, several animal research experts called the role
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  of board chair Autumn sorel's. Also the executive heading
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  neural Links Animal Care problem program, a particularly
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  troubling conflict. So rails didn't respond to
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  requests for comment asset. Of the 22 iacuc members also
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  report to surrounds in their neurolink jobs, separate from
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  the board according to an internal documents and to
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  knurling sources with knowledge of the, committee's operation of
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  this Dynamic discourages those members from dissenting and
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  board matters. One of the sources said, now I
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