Dr. Charles Lieber, who once served as a prominent scientist at Harvard, was found guilty in 2021 of hiding his involvement with a Chinese recruitment initiative. According to a report by Reuters, Lieber has since re-established his brain-computer interface laboratory in Shenzhen, China.
Lieber faced conviction on six charges related to his failure to disclose a contract he had with Wuhan University of Technology. As a result, he spent two days in jail and was under house arrest for six months.
Just over three years after his conviction, Reuters revealed that Lieber had relocated to China. There, he took on a leading role in the country’s ambitious efforts to create connections between human brains and computers.
Now recognized as a global expert in nanotechnology, Lieber leads the Institute for Brain Research, Advanced Interfaces and Neurotechnologies, known as i-BRAIN, in China.
Charles Lieber, who previously chaired Harvard University’s chemistry and chemical biology department, was photographed leaving the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse in Boston on January 30, 2020. Federal investigators had disclosed that Lieber, both a nanoscientist and an entrepreneur, had received significant financial support from his Chinese affiliations. (Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe)
During a government press event in Shenzhen in December, Lieber remarked, “I arrived on April 28, 2025, with a dream and not much more, maybe a couple bags of clothes. 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.”
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)
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.
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