Hoax Claims Neuralink Killed 98 Percent Of Tested Monkeys, But It Isn't Too Far From The Truth

A viral statistic claiming that during animal trials, Neuralink brain chips killed 98 percent of its 3,000 monkey test subjects is not true. That being said, the actual truth of the survival rate of Neuralink's test monkeys is not much better.

Last week, Elon Musk announced that his Neuralink brain chip was "six months away" from human trials. Given the recently problematic track record of Musk-led projects, many on social media were not enthused by the idea of letting the embattled billionaire insert a chip into their brain with a highly invasive and precise surgery.

One concerning fact about Neuralink is the high mortality rate suffered by the monkeys the product has been tested on so far. While a 2019 video of a monkey playing Pong with its mind elicited some "oos" and "aahs," many noted the truth about the Neuralink monkeys is far bleaker.

In recent days, many people tweeted a supposed headline from USA Today that stated Neuralink killed 98 percent of its test subjects, nearly 3,000 monkeys in total.

However, the headline is a hoax. Gannett Media, owners of USA Today, confirmed to VerifyThis that the headline was doctored.

"I can confirm the headline depicted in the image you sent is fake and never appeared on usatoday.com," they wrote. The original article, written by USA TODAY Money Reporter Bailey Schulz, was titled, "Elon Musk's Neuralink to host a 'show and tell.' What we know about the brain implant startup."

While Neuralink did not kill 3,000 monkeys, the actual fatality rate of the Neuralink tests is not encouraging either. In February this year, multiple news outlets posted about the findings of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which has voiced numerous complaints about the Neuralink project.

Their review of Neuralink data from 2017 to 2020 found 15 of the 23 tested monkeys died in testing, while the remaining reportedly suffered "debilitating health defects," highlighting one monkey that supposedly bit off fingers and toes due to the trauma.

"Pretty much every single monkey that had had implants put in their head suffered from pretty debilitating health effects," the PCRM’s research advocacy director Jeremy Beckham said. "They were, frankly, maiming and killing the animals."

Though Neuralink is not responsible for the deaths of nearly 3,000 monkeys, the company's actual record in animal testing will likely do little to encourage potential human test subjects to participate in Neuralink tests, should they happen at all.

In the past, Musk has on separate occasions suggested human Neuralink tests will happen in 2020, 2021 and 2022.