Beijing Institute of Technology

History

2025

Developing technology to implant brain controllers in bees to help fight terrorists and drug trafficking

Chinese researchers at the Beijing Institute of Technology have developed a revolutionary technology for implanting brain controllers into bees to create cyborg insects. The new devices will allow the use of controlled bees in anti-terrorist operations, the fight against drug trafficking and rescue missions. The team of Professor Zhao Jeliang from the Beijing Institute of Technology in July 2025 introduced the world's first brain controller for bees weighing 74 milligrams.

According to the South China Morning Post, the device created turned out to be lighter than a natural bag with nectar, which is carried by working bees. The controller is fixed to the insect's back and implants three microscopic needles into its nervous system. Electrical pulses are sent through these electrodes, creating artificial signals in the bee's brain.

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Фото: Shutterstock Images

The technology allows you to completely control the movements of the insect through remote commands. The bee is instructed to turn left, right, fly forward or backward depending on the transmitted pulses. The device is made on a flexible polymer film with an insect wing thickness and is equipped with an infrared receiver for wireless control.

Experimental tests have demonstrated high efficiency of the control system. In 90% of cases, bees accurately performed the transmitted commands and made the required maneuvers. Insects successfully performed complex flights in a circle and demonstrated controlled behavior in the air.

The development surpassed previous advances in bioengineering. Singaporean scientists previously created controllers for cockroaches and beetles, but their devices weighed three times the size of their Chinese counterpart. Cyborg cockroaches could only move in a straight line and stopped responding to commands after ten signals.^[1]

Collaborative project with NCSC DiT DZM to improve medical imaging

The Metropolitan Center for Diagnostics and Telemedicine and Beijing University of Technology (BJUT) have announced a strategic partnership to develop algorithms that help improve the quality of ultrasound images and improve diagnostic accuracy. In particular, the joint work of Russian and Chinese scientists is aimed at increasing the detection of breast cancer. On April 25, 2025, the chief freelance specialist in radiation and instrumental diagnostics of Moscow, Yuri Vasiliev, announced this. Read more here.

2018: Recruiting schoolchildren to build deadly weapons with artificial intelligence

In November 2018, it became known that the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) recruited a group of schoolchildren to develop weapons using artificial intelligence. For the experimental four-year program, 27 young people under the age of 18 were selected from more than 5 thousand candidates.

We are looking for new qualities, such as creative thinking and the will to fight when faced with problems, "PTI professor told the South China Morning Post on condition of anonymity. "They should have a passion for developing new weapons. They must also be patriots.

China hires' patriotic'schoolchildren to build deadly AI weapons

Teenagers who have joined the autonomous weapons development group must choose specialization, such as engineering, electronics or weapon design. Two scientists, arms specialists, one from the academic world, the other  from the military-industrial complex, will mentor each student throughout the program.

At the end of the course, they will be able to continue working on the program together with the supervisor and ultimately become full-fledged researchers in the field of deadly AI technology.

Eleonore Pauwels of the University of the United Nations is concerned about the training program for AI weapons specialists  in China.

Think about robots that can poison food or deliver toxins using biotechnology, the expert notes.

A spokesman for China's foreign ministry told the South China Morning Post that the department was "very aware" of possible problems with such systems. In April 2018, the Chinese government provided the UN with a memorandum outlining the country's position on these technologies and calling for a broader discussion of the issue. In July 2018, thousands of scientists signed a document with which they promised not to participate in the development of autonomous weapons.^[2]

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