US investigation of Musk's Neuralink also targets agriculture department

Law enforcement officials investigating Elon Musk's Neuralink over its animal trial program are also scrutinizing the US Department of Agriculture's oversight of the company's operations, after the agency failed to act on violations at other research organizations, according to several people familiar with the matter. Reuters reported on 5 December that the USDA's watchdog, the Office of the Inspector General, is investigating Neuralink, a medical device company that is developing brain implants, over potential animal-welfare violations. A federal prosecutor in the civil division at the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California requested the investigation, people familiar with the matter said. Reuters was unable to determine what potential violations are being investigated. The 5 December report identified four experiments in recent years involving 86 pigs and two monkeys that were marred by human errors.