Convicted nanoscientist from Harvard and Wuhan University rebuilds brain computer lab in China
Charles Lieber, the nanoscientist convicted in 2021 of lying to U.S. authorities about payments from China while at Harvard, has rebuilt his brain-computer interface laboratory inside China.
The 67-year-old now directs the state-funded i-BRAIN Institute at the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation. There he pursues technology Beijing explicitly identifies as a national priority: embedding electronics directly into the human brain.
Meshlike electrodes, injected into brain tissue, can function for months. PHOTO: LIEBER GROUP, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Lieber arrived in Shenzhen on April 28, 2025. He told a government conference in December, “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.”
The lab gives him resources unavailable at Harvard. In February i-BRAIN installed a dedicated deep ultraviolet lithography system from ASML for fabricating tiny circuits. On the same campus it operates primate research facilities with 2,000 cages and dedicated space for i-BRAIN’s work. Lieber’s team is recruiting researchers for electrophysiology studies on rhesus monkeys as models for human brain-computer interfaces.
China’s new five-year plan names brain-computer interface technology a core growth priority. The People’s Liberation Army has studied the interfaces for potential military use, including engineering super soldiers by boosting mental agility and situational awareness.
Lieber’s 2021 conviction covered false statements about his participation in China’s Thousand Talents Program and related tax offenses. He served two days in prison, six months of house arrest, and paid $50,000 in fines plus $33,600 in restitution.
Analysts note the case illustrates how U.S. legal tools failed to stop the transfer of sensitive expertise. Lieber now operates within a sprawling ecosystem of state-backed institutions bankrolled by billions in government funding.
SMART’s 2026 budget rose nearly 18 percent to about $153 million, part of a larger $2 billion Shenzhen Bay Laboratory complex.
The lab sits inside an institution openly recruiting top scientific talent from the United States.