QUANTICO, Va. -- Foreign adversaries are exploiting America’s universities to steal cutting-edge research, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) warned this week following a new bulletin alongside the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) and other mission partners.
“U.S. colleges and universities drive critical research that fuels America’s innovation and economic growth, advances our global competitiveness, and contributes to U.S. national security,” said James Cangialosi, NCSC Acting Director. “However, foreign adversaries are increasingly exploiting the open and collaborative environment of U.S. academic institutions for their own gain.”
The memo, titled “Safeguarding Academia,” cautions breakthroughs in fields like quantum computing, artificial intelligence, advanced materials and biotechnology are being targeted before they reach the marketplace or the military.
“What happens in a campus lab can determine the next battlefield advantage,” said an AFOSI Center senior intelligence analyst. “Our role is to make sure those discoveries serve U.S. interests, not a foreign military.”
These risks are not hypothetical, they added. Last spring, federal agents at the University of Michigan opened a freezer and found a dangerous fungus smuggled in by visiting scientists from China, a reminder that the front line of global competition can pass quietly through a lab.
In 2023, a graduate student with a Brazilian passport was unmasked as a Russian national gathering details on classmates headed for national security jobs. A few years before that, a researcher visiting Stanford lied about their affiliation with the Chinese military.
And the threat doesn’t end on campus, officials said. Today’s graduate student is often tomorrow’s founder, carrying their technologies into startups where adversaries shift from recruiting insiders to exploiting partnerships, investments and supply chains.
“For most companies, especially startups, it’s not that they’re malicious,” the analyst said. “They’re focused on building their technology, not thinking about counterintelligence. Our job is to show them how adversaries use legal business structures to quietly gain access to American intellectual property.”
The bulletin also warns that international pitch competitions, particularly those affiliated with the Chinese government, have become prime venues for technology theft. Although marketed as opportunities for exposure and funding, these events can be used to capture proprietary data, recruit talent or acquire U.S. innovation under the guise of investment.
“A single pitch can hand over more than a startup realizes,” the memo notes. “Public disclosure before patent filing can void protections, and any data shared with foreign judges or investors may be subject to local laws requiring cooperation with host governments.”
Technology at risk, from propulsion systems to secure communications, often have dual-use applications, valuable in civilian markets and foreign military programs. Once stolen, officials said they can appear in rival platforms within years, erasing decades of U.S. advantage.
“Many of the technologies developed in U.S. universities have direct military applications,” the analyst said. “When foreign adversaries take that research, they’re eroding our operational advantage and putting national security at risk.”
That’s where AFOSI’s outreach at universities conducting Department of the Air Force-related research is designed to ensure collaboration does not become a doorway for hostile influence.
But even with safeguards, the memo notes foreign intelligence services are continuing to find ways in. Some rely on talent recruitment programs, offering funding in exchange for access to intellectual property, while others use cyber intrusions to break into research servers and grant databases.
Insider recruitment has also targeted students, postdocs or visiting scholars who can be pressured, bribed or influenced by ideology.
“These are not amateur actors,” the analyst said. “They are skilled professionals who know how to exploit the norms of openness and collaboration to mask their affiliations until it’s too late.”
The bulletin advises universities and startups to take basic precautions, like protecting intellectual property before disclosure, scrutinizing potential partners and limiting what they share in public forums, to keep adversaries from exploiting research.
“Defending the homeland often starts in the classrooms,” said Col. Brian Alexander, AFOSI Center commander. “AFOSI and our partners are on the front lines every day, but the safeguards start in academia. When universities take steps to protect their research, we can make sure those discoveries strengthen America, and not our adversaries.”
Editor’s Note:
Readers who suspect their research or startup is being targeted can report concerns to the FBI at https://tips.fbi.gov/, or the Air Force Office of Special Investigations at https://www.osi.af.mil/Submit-a-Tip/.