Tesla (TSLA) -) CEO and world's richest man Elon Musk is intent on electrifying the global auto market, solving traffic and bringing humans to Mars.
He also wants to revolutionize the connection between human brains and computers through Neuralink, his brain chip company.
Related: One of Elon Musk's newer ventures is now worth $7 billion
Though Neuralink is currently focusing on quadriplegic patients with the goal of giving them the ability to control computers and mobile devices with their thoughts, Musk has teased a few other applications the company is exploring.
The company's mission is to create a "generalized brain interface to restore autonomy to those with unmet medical needs today and unlock human potential tomorrow."
Earlier in November, Musk said that the company is working on developing a "vision chip" designed to help people who have lost their eyesight. He said it would be ready in a few years.
Musk wrote in a post Sunday that some future, highly advanced iteration of his Neuralink device will enable users to experience alternate realities.
"If there are advanced Neuralinks in the future, there will be many flashback experiences to the past," he said. "You will be able to experience not just your past, but any real or fictional reality."
He did not explain how this might be achieved, or when.
Neuralink, according to an SEC filing dated Nov. 22, recently raised an additional $43 million in venture capital. The biotech company has now raised a total of $323 million from 32 investors.
The company, according to Reuters, achieved a $5 billion valuation in June.
Neuralink in May received FDA approval to begin human trials; the company in September began recruitment for the study. Neuralink said that people with quadriplegia due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) may be eligible to participate.
Related: Thousands of people are super interested in one of Elon Musk's more unusual companies
Problems at Neuralink
These early wins come amid steadily increasing scrutiny over the firm's practices, both with its employees and its test subjects.
Anonymous former employees described in a 2022 Fortune report a "culture of blame and fear" at Neuralink that has seemingly pushed many of its founding scientists out.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) asked the SEC in September to investigate Musk and Neuralink for securities fraud after Musk claimed on X that "no monkey has died as a result of a Neuralink implant."
The committee said that, based on public records, Neuralink euthanized at least a dozen previously healthy monkeys as a result of issues with brain implants.
"Because the invasiveness of Neuralink’s device poses serious health risks to patients, Musk is misleading investors about the safety and marketability of the company’s device," the committee said.
After a months-long investigation into Neuralink, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in July that there was "no evidence" of animal welfare violations by the company.
PCRM said the ruling represented a "free pass" for Neuralink.
Four Democratic House representatives asked the SEC to investigate Neuralink over the same claims last week.
“It seems obvious to everyone but Elon Musk that Neuralink’s device is unsafe and dangerous,” Ryan Merkley, director of Research Advocacy with the Physicians Committee, said in a statement. “Now he is deliberately misleading investors and the public by outright lying about the company’s monkey experiments.”
Neuralink did not respond to TheStreet's request for comment.
Contact Ian with tips via email, ian.krietzberg@thearenagroup.net, or Signal 732-804-1223.
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