How a Powerful Spy Camera Invented at Duke Ended Up in China’s Hands

High-tech camera, conceived by scientists for the Pentagon, finds light by moving east

With its 19 lenses, the Mantis, one of the world’s most powerful cameras, can capture cities and people in the big picture, and then drill down into extraordinary detail. This tool is now powering the Chinese surveillance state. Photo: Qilai Shen for The Wall Street Journal
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KUNSHAN, China—Five years ago, a group of Duke University scientists developed a pioneering gigapixel camera to provide long-range surveillance for the U.S. Navy through a sponsorship from the Pentagon.

The technology, never picked up by the U.S. government, is now being used by Chinese police to identify people from nearly a football field away, after lead Duke researcher David Brady moved to China in 2016 to kick-start his business.

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