Rights Group Claims UC Davis Won’t Release Photos Depicting Tortured Neuralink Monkeys

“Regarding the lawsuit by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, we fully complied with the California Public Records Act in responding to their request,” UC Davis said in February. “Indeed, additional materials have been supplied to PCRM since the conclusion of the research agreement with Neuralink.”

Neuralink also vigorously defended itself earlier this year, releasing a lengthy statement saying it’s committed to working with animals, “in the most humane and ethical way possible.” In that same statement, Neuralink tried to throw water on the Physicians Committee complaint, claiming they are an absolutist organization opposed to any types of animal testing. To that end, the Physicians Committee has reportedly advocated for veganism and alternatives to animal testing and has received some funding from PETA, according to The Guardian.

And while Neuralink did not respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment, its previous statement did note it left UC Davis in 2020 partly to improve overall facility standards.

“While the facilities and care at UC Davis did and continue to meet federally mandated standards, we absolutely wanted to improve upon these standards as we transitioned animals to our in-house facilities,” the company said.

In addition to the alleged photos, the Physicians Committee says UC Davis legal documents revealed over 600 pages depicting test monkeys suffering seizures, chronic infections, and side effects from the Neuralink device. They cite documents claiming experimenters reportedly used an unapproved adhesive called BioGlue to fill the holes in the monkey’s brain following surgery. Some of that glue, according to the Physicians’ Committee, allegedly seeped into the monkey’s brains.

“UC Davis thinks the public is too stupid to know what they’re looking at,” Physicians Committee Director of Research Advocacy Ryan Merkley, said. “But it’s clear the university is simply trying to hide from taxpayers the fact that it partnered with Elon Musk to conduct experiments in which animals suffered and died.”