Elon Musk's contentious relationship with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has escalated with the revelation of a new investigation into his brain-computer interface company, Neuralink.
A letter posted by Musk on X (formerly Twitter), seemingly from his long-time lawyer Alex Spiro, indicates that the SEC has "reopened" a probe into Neuralink and is also preparing action against Musk regarding his pre-acquisition investment in Twitter.
The letter said that the US SEC had given Elon Musk 48 hour to agree to pay a penalty or face charges. The SEC sent Musk a settlement offer with that timeline, but has since reportedly extended it to Monday after a request for more time.
What is the SEC probe about
The SEC has been scrutinizing the timing and disclosure of Musk's Twitter stock purchases before he bought the platform for $44 billion.
According to the letter, the SEC initially gave Musk a 48-hour ultimatum to accept a settlement or face enforcement action, a
deadline later extended to Monday.
While the letter doesn't specify the focus of the Neuralink investigation, it does reveal that Spiro was recently subpoenaed but refused to testify.
The letter, addressed to outgoing SEC Chair Gary Gensler, questions whether Gensler or "the White House" is behind an "improperly
motivated campaign against Mr. Musk." The SEC declined to comment.
This isn't the first clash between Musk and the
SEC. Their history dates back to 2018 when the SEC sued Musk for securities fraud following his tweets about taking Tesla private. Earlier on the same day the letter was posted, Musk als criticized the agency on X.
Furthermore, in late 2023, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and four US lawmakers requested the SEC investigate Musk and Neuralink for potential securities fraud, alleging misleading claims made by the company
