Neuralink, a neurotechnology company owned by Elon Musk focused on developing implantable brain-machine interfaces, allegedly euthanised or killed 15 out of 23 of its monkey test subjects. Animal rights groups have accused Neuralink and the University of California, Davis of nine violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act.

During a series of tests at the University of California, Davis from 2017 to 2020, Neuralink chips were inserted into monkeys’ brains. The experiments involved 23 monkeys, of which 15 of them were euthanised or died by 2020, a report from California’s open records law said.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), an animal-rights group, filed a draft regulatory complaint with the US Department of Agriculture. The animal rights group claimed to have proof that monkeys were subjected to extreme suffering at Neuralink.

The PCRM claims to have 700 pages of documents obtained through a public-records request to UC Davis.

Neuralink is working on “developing ultra-high bandwidth brain-machine interfaces to connect humans and computers.” The company claims its brain chips can help people with neurological conditions including Alzheimer’s, dementia, and spinal cord injuries.