Recent reports indicate that U.S. intelligence agencies have secretly provided numerous defense grants to researchers linked with Chinese government and military entities. This revelation comes from an exclusive report received by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Since 2017, at least 14 defense research initiatives in the U.S. have received backing from the Information Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA). The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) funds these “high-risk, high-reward research programs,” some of which are affiliated with China’s national laboratories and military organizations. Alarmingly, researchers involved in two of these projects have reportedly collaborated with Chinese agencies during the same timeframe, which raises concerns about the potential transfer of sensitive U.S. defense technology.
The report warns that these studies show a clear intent from Chinese intelligence and security agencies, working with military affiliates, to extract methodologies and technical insights from IARPA-funded initiatives. There’s a suggestion that some of this could be an attempt to reverse-engineer research findings.
One expert, LJ Eads, who is a director of research and intelligence at Parallax, emphasized that cooperation between U.S. intelligence and researchers with ties to adversarial nations like China should be strictly prohibited. He expressed concern about the number of projects funded by IARPA that involve personnel connected to Chinese institutions and companies.
Neither the ODNI nor IARPA responded to requests for comments regarding these findings.
Concerns Over National Security
One notable case study from 2024 pointed out that the lead researcher of IARPA’s BRIAR program had a significant history of collaborations with Chinese institutions, some of which have connections to the military. The BRIAR program aims to develop detection and tracking software that uses biometric features like gait and body shape. Interestingly, a faculty member from Michigan State University was involved in this project while also working on research funded by the Chinese government, leading to participation with various institutions in China.
There’s an implication that the partnerships formed by SUSTech, in particular, are closely tied to advancements in defense research, according to assessments by think tanks in Australia.
The report also mentioned that a key investigator from the BRIAR program collaborated with a deputy director from the China Liaison Office in Hong Kong, who has been flagged by the U.S. Treasury for links to a country deemed a threat. A former U.S. ambassador described the intertwining of China’s research sector with U.S. intelligence programs as a notable national security challenge.
There’s a call for a thorough review of how the U.S. engages with foreign entities and a recommendation to “de-risk” areas of collaboration that could be harmful.
Data and Experiments
Another relevant case from the report involved datasets from IARPA’s BABEL program, which were utilized by both U.S. and Chinese researchers for a 2018 study on voice recognition technology. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is reportedly focusing on overcoming the U.S. in strategic areas by 2027, according to the Department of Defense.
Even though the BABEL program is important for the U.S. intelligence community, coinciding with its U.S. applications, PLA Unit 62315 was linked to the research and has filed patents that suggest an interest in advancing voice recognition capabilities.
Further Security Risks
The report also highlighted a 2023 IARPA-funded work involving researchers from the Chinese Society of Engineering Physics (CAEP), known for its connections to China’s nuclear weapons research. CAEP is included on the U.S. Entity List, which restricts exports of certain technologies to it due to national security concerns.
CAEP’s involvement with IARPA’s LogiQ program, aimed at enhancing quantum computing technologies, implies a potential risk to sensitive U.S. technologies related to quantum error correction. This raises alarm bells about the broader implications for national security.
Experts, including Eads, suggest this report only scratches the surface of ongoing research security problems that must be addressed comprehensively.
