The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which had initially rejected Elon Musk's application, was to give the company the green light. Neuralink will test brain implants on humans.

Elon Musk had already announced in 2019 that his company was going to start testing implants on humans. All he needed was approval from the Food and Drug Administration. On Thursday 25 May, he announced that Neurolink was about to get one.

In the past the FDA highlighted several issues that needed to be resolved before human trials could be sanctioned. The main issues related to the devices' lithium battery, the ability of the implant wires to migrate in the brain and the challenge of safely extracting the device without damaging brain tissue.

It should not be forgotten that Elon Musk's company has had problems related to the mistreatment of animals. Last year, the USDA inspector general launched an investigation at the request of a federal prosecutor. It concerned potential violations of the Animal Welfare Act, which regulates how scientists treat and test some animals. The company killed around 1,500 animals - including more than 280 sheep, pigs and monkeys - after experiments conducted since 2018.

It should be noted that the Food and Drug Administration has not yet officially confirmed the granting of approval for Musk's company to test the implants on humans.