UC Davis, Musk fight release of ‘particularly gruesome’ monkey research photos, report says

UC Davis is in possession of hundreds of photos of monkey test subjects — graphic images of at least a dozen macaques that were “poisoned, maimed, and ultimately killed” — but neither the university nor billionaire Elon Musk wants the public to see them, according to an investigative report from tech news outlet Wired that published Wednesday.

The macaques, which came from UC Davis’ Primate Center, were part of a research program in partnership with Musk’s company Neuralink.

The university and Neuralink are defendants in a lawsuit filed by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, under the California Public Records Act.

The partnership between UC Davis and Neuralink ended in 2020.

Neuralink did not respond to The Bee’s request for comment by deadline.

In response to previous allegations of animal cruelty, the company released a statement in which it said, “At Neuralink, we are absolutely committed to working with animals in the most humane and ethical way possible.”

Andy Fell, a spokesman for UC Davis, said in a statement to The Bee that the university “has fully complied with the California Public Records Act and we have supplied the vast majority of records requested by (the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine). Some requested items were not provided because they are exempt from disclosure under the law for various reasons set out in court filings.”

Among those requested items, according to Wired, are photos of monkeys with holes “roughly the size of a US dime” drilled into their skulls. Others show with electrodes placed inside their brains and titanium plates screwed to their skulls. One researcher told Wired that the photos are “particularly gruesome.”

In at least one instance, later documented as an Animal Welfare Act violation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a 7-year-old monkey seized and vomited as it was observed by university staff, and “sometimes she would wake and scratch at her throat, retching and gasping for air, before collapsing again, exhausted,” according to Wired.

Despite the animal’s apparent suffering, it was not euthanized until one day later, at Neuralink’s request.

According to Wired, the USDA declined to punish the university because it had proactively reported the violation.

UC Davis argued in legal filings that the photos, some of which allegedly depict monkeys with severe neurological damage, would not be in the public’s interest to view, according to the Wired report.

Wired reports that UC Davis has fought the release of the photos for more than a year.

According to court filings reviewed by Wired, UC Davis has argued that the rationale for withholding the photographs is that the public is incapable of distinguishing between legitimate scientific research and “senseless butchery,” and that releasing the photos to the public would endanger university researchers.

As the lawsuit, filed in Yolo County, proceeds, Neuralink is moving ahead with its research. The company announced in September that it is moving ahead with trials on human subjects.

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the basis of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine lawsuit. The lawsuit has been filed under the California Public Records Act.