NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Dr. Charles Lieber, a former Harvard scientist convicted in 2021 of concealing his ties to a Chinese-run recruitment program, has since rebuilt his brain-computer interface lab in Shenzhen, China, according to Reuters.
Convicted of six counts related to lying about a contract he held with Wuhan University of Technology, Lieber served two days in prison and six months on house arrest for his crimes.
Just over three years after that conviction, Reuters reported, Lieber fled for China, where he became the head of the nation’s burgeoning program to connect human brains to computers.
Lieber, considered one of the world’s authorities on nanotechnology, is now head of China’s Institute for Brain Research, Advanced Interfaces and Neurotechnologies, or i-BRAIN.
CHINA’S ULTRASOUND BRAIN TECH RACE HEATS UP
Charles Lieber, chair of Harvard University’s chemistry and chemical biology department, is released from John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse in Boston on Jan. 30, 2020. Federal authorities said Lieber, a nanoscientist and entrepreneur, received hundreds of thousands of dollars from his Chinese connections. (Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe)
“I arrived on April 28, 2025, with a dream and not much more, maybe a couple bags of clothes,” Lieber said during a Shenzhen government news conference in December. “Personally, my own goals are to make Shenzhen a world leader.”
His defection marks the confluence of a number of emergent trends. While his original conviction highlighted the United States’ ongoing efforts to mitigate Chinese technology theft, some experts argue his defection serves as proof those efforts have not succeeded.
“China has weaponized against us our own openness and our own efforts for innovation,” Glenn Gerstell, an advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and former general counsel for the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), told Reuters. “They’ve flipped that and turned it around against us, and they’re taking advantage of it.”
AI ARMS RACE: US AND CHINA WEAPONIZE DRONES, CODE AND BIOTECH FOR THE NEXT GREAT WAR
Beinao-1, a semi-invasive brain-machine interface system also known as the NeuCyber Matrix BMI system, is displayed during a media briefing as part of an organised media tour to the Chinese Institute for Brain Research in Beijing, China March 19, 2026. (REUTERS/Florence Lo TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)
The move also showcases the import China places on developing cutting-edge technologies. Lieber’s original contract with Wuhan University of Technology paid him $50,000 a month and over $150,000 in living expenses. His new lab likely cost the Chinese government a great deal more than that.
Lieber reportedly has access to a wide suite of tools and resources to continue developing computer-brain interfaces, including machinery to fabricate coveted semiconductor chips and a large primate lab.
Wang Jianwei C, a professor at Peking University, tests an integrated photonic quantum chip with doctoral students Jia Xinyu L and Zhai Chonghao in a laboratory of Peking University in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 18, 2025. (Xinhua via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Computer-brain interfaces have shown promise in treating neurological disorders but also have potential military applications.
Fox News Digital contacted Harvard University and i-BRAIN for additional comment but did not immediately receive a response.