14 - Monsanto Farming Technology Transfer Thwarted

Xiang Haitao[1] was an imaging scientist working for The Climate Corporation in St. Louis. The Climate Corporation is a subsidiary of Monsanto. In his work as an imaging scientist, Xiang developed software that would analyze field data to make predictions and increase farmers' productivity. The algorithm this software relies on was named the Nutrient Optimizer and is the IP of Monsanto and the Climate Corporation.

Xiang left The Climate Corporation in June of 2017 and attempted to board a one-way flight to China the next day. He was met at the airport by federal officials and a search of his belongings revealed that he had with him copies of the Nutrient Optimizer on an electronic device they had confiscated. While they did not arrest him in 2017, they did arrest him upon returning to the US two years later after working for the Chinese Academy of Science’s Institute of Soil Science in the interim. In 2022, he was sentenced to prison for conspiring to commit economic espionage.