• The inspector general of the USDA is looking into Neuralink.
• Since 2018, Neuralink allegedly killed 1,500 animals for research.
• Twitter was just purchased by Musk for $44 billion.

US House Representatives Earl Francis Blumenauer and Adam Schiff have called for a more thorough inquiry by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) into Elon Musk's Neuralink following a Reuters piece that exposed flaws in the company's animal testing programme.

The USDA's inspector general is reportedly looking into Neuralink for potential animal welfare violations amid internal employee claims that the company's animal testing is rushed, resulting in needless suffering and fatalities. 

In a draught letter they would write to the USDA, Democrats Blumenauer and Schiff stated that “the treatment of the animals mentioned in these complaints seems to imply a worrisome lack of control.” In a letter to USDA secretary Thomas Vilsack and Kevin Shea, who is in charge of the agency's inspection service, the lawmakers expressed their concern that this might be yet another instance of high-profile animal cruelty cases involving USDA-inspected facilities that have not received adequate response from the agency. 

Executives from Neuralink did not immediately reply to calls for comment. Reuters was directed to the inspector general's office, which also declined to comment, by a USDA representative who claimed that the organisation could not comment on Neuralink. Reuters found a number of issues with Neuralink's animal testing, including four experiments involving 86 pigs and two monkeys that were compromised by human error.

 The mistakes weakened the trials and forced extra testing, which led to more animal deaths. Since 2018, the company has killed over 1,500 animals, including over 280 lambs, pigs, and monkeys as a result of trials, according to Reuters. In response to the inspector general's investigation, the offices of Blumenauer and Schiff declined to comment on any additional actions they would like the USDA to take.

The probe was 'essential to putting light on the avoidable animal suffering and deaths' and possible animal-welfare law violations, the legislators noted in their letter.