SEC Reopens Investigation into Neuralink

By Mrinmay Dey

(Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reopened an investigation into Elon Musk's brain-chip startup Neuralink, as revealed in a letter shared by Musk on Thursday via social media platform X.

The letter dated December 12 from Musk's attorney Alex Spiro to outgoing SEC Chair Gary Gensler mentioned a settlement demand from the commission, which required Musk to accept a monetary payment within 48 hours or risk facing multiple charges. The amount demanded was not specified in the letter.

Musk has had a contentious relationship with the SEC. Last year, four lawmakers requested an investigation to determine whether Musk committed securities fraud by allegedly misleading investors about the safety of Neuralink's brain implant.

It remains uncertain how effective the SEC's actions against Musk may be. The billionaire, who leads Tesla and SpaceX, has gained significant political influence after contributing over a quarter of a billion dollars to support Donald Trump's bid in the upcoming presidential election. His companies are likely well-protected from regulatory and enforcement actions.

Trump has appointed Musk to a task force aimed at reforming the U.S. government.

Spiro stated in the letter that they will not allow the SEC to intimidate them and will assert their legal rights.

The SEC and Neuralink did not respond to requests for comment outside of regular business hours.

Musk’s previous conflicts with the SEC include an investigation into his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, now rebranded as X. In November, a federal judge denied the SEC's request to sanction Musk for not attending a court-ordered testimony regarding this issue.

Additionally, Musk was sued by the SEC in 2018 over his tweets about taking Tesla private, leading to a $20 million settlement, which included provisions for pre-review of his posts by Tesla's legal team and his resignation as chairman of the company.