At least twenty government officials reviewing Elon Musk’s Neuralink brain implant were just fired.
Several FDA employees responsible for reviewing Musk’s brain implant company, Neuralink, were abruptly dismissed over the weekend.
According to sources, around 20 staff members from the FDA’s neurological and physical medicine devices office — some directly involved in assessing Neuralink’s clinical trial applications — lost their jobs.
The dismissal letters cited performance reasons, even though the employees had no issues with their prior performance and had received top rankings just weeks ago.
Neuralink, which is currently testing a brain implant designed to help paralyzed individuals control digital devices with their thoughts, recently received FDA clearance to accelerate development.
The agency, the White House, and Musk have yet to comment on the firings. Meanwhile, Musk, who has invested heavily in former President Trump’s re-election efforts, continues to push for widespread cost-cutting measures across government agencies regulating his businesses, including Tesla and SpaceX.
Sources said they did not believe the employees were specifically targeted because of their work on Neuralink’s applications. But Musk is heavily invested in cutting federal regulations, and these cuts will benefit many of his companies. Experts note that even if these specific individuals were not targeted because of their work on Musk’s companies, all parties overseeing the cuts knew that Musk and his companies would benefit.