Factbox: Neuralink: what you need to know about Elon Musk's brain chip company
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Neuralink, the Elon Musk company that Reuters reported on Monday is the target of a federal investigation over its animal trial program, has been trying to develop a brain chip that would enable the paralyzed to walk and the blind to see.
Here is more on what Neuralink does.
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WHAT IS NEURALINK DEVELOPING?
Founded in 2016 by Musk and a group of engineers, Neuralink is building a brain chip interface that can be implanted within the skull, which it says could eventually help disabled patients to move and communicate again, and also restore vision.
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Neuralink's device has a chip that processes and transmits neural signals that could be transmitted to devices like a computer or a phone.
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The company hopes that a person would potentially be able to control a mouse, keyboard or other computer functions like text messaging with their thoughts.
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"First @Neuralink product will enable someone with paralysis to use a smartphone with their mind faster than someone using thumbs," Musk said in April 2021.
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Neuralink also believes its device will eventually be able to restore neural activity inside the body, allowing those with spinal cord injuries to move limbs. The San Francisco and Austin-based company also aspires to cure neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's and dementia.
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WHAT PROGRESS HAS NEURALINK MADE?
Neuralink has produced several examples of testing aspects of its technology successfully on animals, including a video in 2021 that showed a macaque playing a simple videogame after being implanted with a brain chip. In a presentation webcast last week, the company showcased improvements in the speed and capabilities of the chip.
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WHAT HURDLES FOR NEURALINK NEXT?
Neuralink has yet to secure U.S. regulatory approval to move to human trials - unlike competitor Synchron, which has less ambitious goals for its medical advances. Neuralink has missed Musk's publicly stated deadlines to start human trials and this year submitted its application to the Food and Drug Administration to begin them. Musk said last week he believes Neuralink can start human clinical trials in six months.
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CONTROVERSY AROUND ANIMAL TESTING
The company is facing a federal probe for potential animal-welfare violations at a time when its staff has complained that the testing is being rushed, causing needless suffering and deaths, according to documents reviewed by Reuters and sources familiar with the investigation and company operations.
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In all, the company has killed about 1,500 animals, including more than 280 sheep, pigs and monkeys, following experiments since 2018.
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Source: Reuters
Factbox: Neuralink: what you need to know about Elon Musk's brain chip company
​
Neuralink, the Elon Musk company that Reuters reported on Monday is the target of a federal investigation over its animal trial program, has been trying to develop a brain chip that would enable the paralyzed to walk and the blind to see.
Here is more on what Neuralink does.
​
WHAT IS NEURALINK DEVELOPING?
Founded in 2016 by Musk and a group of engineers, Neuralink is building a brain chip interface that can be implanted within the skull, which it says could eventually help disabled patients to move and communicate again, and also restore vision.
​
Neuralink's device has a chip that processes and transmits neural signals that could be transmitted to devices like a computer or a phone.
​
The company hopes that a person would potentially be able to control a mouse, keyboard or other computer functions like text messaging with their thoughts.
​
"First @Neuralink product will enable someone with paralysis to use a smartphone with their mind faster than someone using thumbs," Musk said in April 2021.
​
Neuralink also believes its device will eventually be able to restore neural activity inside the body, allowing those with spinal cord injuries to move limbs. The San Francisco and Austin-based company also aspires to cure neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's and dementia.
​
WHAT PROGRESS HAS NEURALINK MADE?
Neuralink has produced several examples of testing aspects of its technology successfully on animals, including a video in 2021 that showed a macaque playing a simple videogame after being implanted with a brain chip. In a presentation webcast last week, the company showcased improvements in the speed and capabilities of the chip.
​
WHAT HURDLES FOR NEURALINK NEXT?
Neuralink has yet to secure U.S. regulatory approval to move to human trials - unlike competitor Synchron, which has less ambitious goals for its medical advances. Neuralink has missed Musk's publicly stated deadlines to start human trials and this year submitted its application to the Food and Drug Administration to begin them. Musk said last week he believes Neuralink can start human clinical trials in six months.
​
CONTROVERSY AROUND ANIMAL TESTING
The company is facing a federal probe for potential animal-welfare violations at a time when its staff has complained that the testing is being rushed, causing needless suffering and deaths, according to documents reviewed by Reuters and sources familiar with the investigation and company operations.
​
In all, the company has killed about 1,500 animals, including more than 280 sheep, pigs and monkeys, following experiments since 2018.
​
Source: Reuters
Factbox: Neuralink: what you need to know about Elon Musk's brain chip company
​
Neuralink, the Elon Musk company that Reuters reported on Monday is the target of a federal investigation over its animal trial program, has been trying to develop a brain chip that would enable the paralyzed to walk and the blind to see.
Here is more on what Neuralink does.
​
WHAT IS NEURALINK DEVELOPING?
Founded in 2016 by Musk and a group of engineers, Neuralink is building a brain chip interface that can be implanted within the skull, which it says could eventually help disabled patients to move and communicate again, and also restore vision.
​
Neuralink's device has a chip that processes and transmits neural signals that could be transmitted to devices like a computer or a phone.
​
The company hopes that a person would potentially be able to control a mouse, keyboard or other computer functions like text messaging with their thoughts.
​
"First @Neuralink product will enable someone with paralysis to use a smartphone with their mind faster than someone using thumbs," Musk said in April 2021.
​
Neuralink also believes its device will eventually be able to restore neural activity inside the body, allowing those with spinal cord injuries to move limbs. The San Francisco and Austin-based company also aspires to cure neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's and dementia.
​
WHAT PROGRESS HAS NEURALINK MADE?
Neuralink has produced several examples of testing aspects of its technology successfully on animals, including a video in 2021 that showed a macaque playing a simple videogame after being implanted with a brain chip. In a presentation webcast last week, the company showcased improvements in the speed and capabilities of the chip.
​
WHAT HURDLES FOR NEURALINK NEXT?
Neuralink has yet to secure U.S. regulatory approval to move to human trials - unlike competitor Synchron, which has less ambitious goals for its medical advances. Neuralink has missed Musk's publicly stated deadlines to start human trials and this year submitted its application to the Food and Drug Administration to begin them. Musk said last week he believes Neuralink can start human clinical trials in six months.
​
CONTROVERSY AROUND ANIMAL TESTING
The company is facing a federal probe for potential animal-welfare violations at a time when its staff has complained that the testing is being rushed, causing needless suffering and deaths, according to documents reviewed by Reuters and sources familiar with the investigation and company operations.
​
In all, the company has killed about 1,500 animals, including more than 280 sheep, pigs and monkeys, following experiments since 2018.
​
Source: Reuters
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Case Studies
Jamie Spears got $40K loan days before putting Britney under conservatorship
Britney Spears’ cash-strapped father received a loan of at least $40,000 just days before putting her under a conservatorship in 2008, a new report reveals.
Jamie Spears got the money from embattled business manager Lou Taylor‘s firm, Tri Star Sports & Entertainment Group, around the time his pop star daughter was hospitalized on an involuntary psychiatric hold, the New York Times reported on Sunday.
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Days after securing the loan, while Britney was still in the hospital, Jamie petitioned a California court to take control of the singer’s estate and personal affairs, arguing that she was vulnerable and struggling with her mental health and that he should get paid to help her.
A judge promptly approved Jamie’s request, and the patriarch employed Tri Star as the manager of Britney’s estate the following year.
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It is unclear what Jamie, who previously filed for bankruptcy, used the loan for.
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A new report questions how Jamie Spears financially benefited from daughter Britney Spears’ conservatorship.
AP
“It makes me wonder where the allegiance lies,” National Guardianship Association president Anthony Palmieri told the Times. “Is the conservator making decisions in the best interest of the conservatee or the business manager who they owe a debt to?
“It reeks of conflict of interest,” Palmieri added.
Taylor’s lawyer, Charles Harder, said in a statement that Jamie eventually “repaid” the “small loan,” which Harder insisted “had no effect on Tri Star’s work for the estate in later years.”
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The latest in a series of bombshell reports by the Times raises questions about how Jamie, now 69, and Taylor, 56, financially benefited from Britney’s conservatorship.
The newspaper notes that Jamie received an estimated $6 million over 13 years, while Tri Star collected 5 percent of Britney’s “adjusted gross entertainment revenue,” the breadth of which Harder declined to explain.
Although the 40-year-old Grammy winner’s conservatorship was terminated in November, her attorney, Mathew Rosengart, has continued to fight to get answers from Jamie and Taylor about why his client’s current net worth is only $60 million when she has continued to get massive paychecks for her music, concerts and TV appearances.
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Rosengart, a former federal prosecutor, told reporters outside a Los Angeles courthouse earlier this month that Jamie “did not appear” for two scheduled depositions.
“It should not be necessary, but if he continues to evade his deposition, we will file a motion to compel,” he said.
Rosengart has also subpoenaed Taylor and her Tri Star associate Robin Greenhill, both of whom denied a previous Times report that they helped Jamie secretly monitor Britney’s phone and bugged the entertainer’s bedroom with an audio recording device.
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Source: Page Six