Charles Lieber, once celebrated as the world’s top chemist and the chair of Harvard University’s chemistry department, has quietly relocated to China to lead a state-funded research institute. Three years after his conviction in a US federal court for lying about his ties to a Chinese talent recruitment program, Lieber is now spearheading advanced brain-computer interface (BCI) research in Shenzhen.
According to an extensive investigation by Reuters, Lieber arrived in China in April 2025 and was subsequently appointed as the founding director of the Institute for Brain Research, Advanced Interfaces and Neurotechnologies (i-BRAIN). The lab operates under the umbrella of the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation (SMART), a heavily funded municipal initiative.
Unprecedented Resources and Primate Research
Lieber’s new position in Shenzhen affords him access to resources far exceeding those available to him at Harvard. The i-BRAIN facility sits within a sprawling ecosystem of state-backed institutions, benefiting from SMART’s 2026 budget of approximately $153 million, funded entirely by the Shenzhen government.
Crucially, Lieber now has dedicated access to advanced manufacturing and testing infrastructure. In February 2026, i-BRAIN installed a deep ultraviolet lithography system manufactured by the Dutch semiconductor equipment giant ASML. While this $2 million machine is two generations behind the most restricted cutting-edge tools, it provides Lieber with dedicated in-house chip-making capabilities. At Harvard, he relied on shared lithography equipment utilized by over 1,600 researchers annually.
Furthermore, Lieber’s lab has access to the Brain Science Infrastructure (BSI) in Shenzhen, a facility that boasts 2,000 primate cages. i-BRAIN is actively recruiting researchers to conduct electrophysiology studies on rhesus monkeys, using them as models for human brain-computer interfaces. Primate trials are widely considered a mandatory precursor to invasive human BCI trials, and access to such extensive animal testing facilities gives the Shenzhen lab a significant competitive advantage.
Strategic Priorities and Military Concerns
Lieber’s recruitment aligns perfectly with Beijing’s strategic objectives. China explicitly named brain-computer interface technology as a national growth priority in its 2026 Five-Year Plan. The technology holds immense medical promise for treating conditions like ALS and restoring mobility to paralyzed patients.
However, the dual-use nature of BCI technology has raised alarms in Washington. According to the US Defense Department, scientists affiliated with China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have investigated brain interfaces as a potential method for engineering “super soldiers” by enhancing mental agility and situational awareness.
This military potential makes Lieber’s relocation particularly sensitive. During his tenure at Harvard, research projects led by Lieber received over $8 million in funding from the US Department of Defense. His expertise is now serving a strategic competitor directly.
The Failure of US Safeguards
Lieber’s trajectory, from a celebrated US academic to a convicted felon, and now to a well-funded laboratory director in China, highlights the complexities of the US-China technological rivalry. In December 2021, Lieber was sentenced to two days in prison, six months of house arrest, and fined for making false statements to federal investigators and committing tax offenses related to payments from a Chinese university.
For some analysts, Lieber’s seamless transition to Shenzhen demonstrates the limitations of American efforts to protect sensitive technologies. Glenn Gerstell, former general counsel of the US National Security Agency, told Reuters: “China has weaponized against us our own openness and our own efforts for innovation. They’ve flipped that and turned it around against us.”
As China continues to invest billions in emerging technologies and aggressively recruits top-tier global talent, the Lieber case serves as a stark reminder that the battle for technological supremacy is fought not just over microchips and algorithms, but over the brilliant minds that create them.
Lieber’s appointment as founding director of i-BRAIN was announced on May 1, 2025, on the institute’s website, a date that went largely unreported at the time. In September 2025, i-BRAIN posted a recruitment notice inviting researchers to contact Lieber directly about electrophysiology positions. In 2011, Thomson Reuters named Lieber the world’s top chemist of the preceding decade. His research at Harvard received more than $8 million in US Defense Department funding since 2009. He declined to be interviewed for the Reuters investigation, citing “current commitments,” and did not respond to written questions. SMART and i-BRAIN did not reply to requests for comment.
(Related: Beijing Shifts Strategy to Lure Top-Tier AI Talent Back from the US)