Slashdot Mirror

Oh, for the love of.... Use Google to find out. A quick search reveals information from In-Q-Tel's own site and from Google's own site of course these investments are all part of In-Q-Tel's mission and there is nothing secret about it. They are quite open about their investments and why they make those investments, so what is the big deal? Also, note that there are other companies initially invested in by In-Q-Tel that Google has acquired.

Further, the claim (again unsubstantiated) that you have a doctorate

Oh, come on now.... using Google is not all that hard, nor is clicking the links that I so thoughtfully already have provided for you. But, so you don't have to click twice, here it is.

Oh, for the love of.... Use Google to find out. A quick search reveals information from In-Q-Tel's own site and from Google's own site of course these investments are all part of In-Q-Tel's mission and there is nothing secret about it. They are quite open about their investments and why they make those investments, so what is the big deal? Also, note that there are other companies initially invested in by In-Q-Tel that Google has acquired.

Further, the claim (again unsubstantiated) that you have a doctorate

Oh, come on now.... using Google is not all that hard, nor is clicking the links that I so thoughtfully already have provided for you. But, so you don't have to click twice, here it is.

Oh, for the love of.... Use Google to find out. A quick search reveals information from In-Q-Tel's own site and from Google's own site of course these investments are all part of In-Q-Tel's mission and there is nothing secret about it. They are quite open about their investments and why they make those investments, so what is the big deal? Also, note that there are other companies initially invested in by In-Q-Tel that Google has acquired.

Further, the claim (again unsubstantiated) that you have a doctorate

Oh, come on now.... using Google is not all that hard, nor is clicking the links that I so thoughtfully already have provided for you. But, so you don't have to click twice, here it is.

The CIA venture capital company is called In-Q-Tel. In-Q-Tel invested in Keyhole, who developed the forerunner to Google Earth. Keyhole ownership converted to Google ownership. I had heard from a reputable source that In-Q-Tel also invested in Google during their early days, though it appears that In-Q-Tel no longer holds any ownership in Google. In-Q-Tel invested in other search companies over the years, though they seem to have divested ownership in most of those companies.

There needn't be anything nefarious about In-Q-Tel funding Google. Remember the explosive growth of the web a decade ago. Before google, you knew there was a ton of stuff out there, but there was no way to find it. Web searches were very hit or miss. Google improved search technology tremendously, and a decent search engine is itself a boon to the intelligence community. People in this discussion have joked about keyword searches for terrorists, but seriously, it's an invaluable tool, even if a Google Maps search for Osama bin Laden doesn't put a little pushpin on the appropriate cave. Hate groups and terrorist networks recruit using the internet. Search technologies make it easer to keep track of what's out there.

And heck, I get some benefit from decent search technology too.

The CIA venture capital company is called In-Q-Tel. In-Q-Tel invested in Keyhole, who developed the forerunner to Google Earth. Keyhole ownership converted to Google ownership. I had heard from a reputable source that In-Q-Tel also invested in Google during their early days, though it appears that In-Q-Tel no longer holds any ownership in Google. In-Q-Tel invested in other search companies over the years, though they seem to have divested ownership in most of those companies.

There needn't be anything nefarious about In-Q-Tel funding Google. Remember the explosive growth of the web a decade ago. Before google, you knew there was a ton of stuff out there, but there was no way to find it. Web searches were very hit or miss. Google improved search technology tremendously, and a decent search engine is itself a boon to the intelligence community. People in this discussion have joked about keyword searches for terrorists, but seriously, it's an invaluable tool, even if a Google Maps search for Osama bin Laden doesn't put a little pushpin on the appropriate cave. Hate groups and terrorist networks recruit using the internet. Search technologies make it easer to keep track of what's out there.

And heck, I get some benefit from decent search technology too.

Why repeat hearsay when you can Google for The Truth?

Why repeat hearsay when you can Google for The Truth?

There are other connections between Google and the Intelligence community. Like this job ad and this.

Got to go, the black helicopters are circling. Remember, trust no one.

There are other connections between Google and the Intelligence community. Like this job ad and this.

Got to go, the black helicopters are circling. Remember, trust no one.

Err... hate to mention this, but the The CIA's Venture Capital arm, In Q Tel (http://www.in-q-tel.com/) lists Google as an insider trader; (http://biz.yahoo.com/t/44/4984.html); i.e. Google owns a significant portion of the company.

Oh no, here come the black helli.... NO CARRIER

mining areas of the Web inaccessible to ordinary search engines

Apparently In-q-tel is currently interested in searching technologies which ignore robots.txt. http://www.in-q-tel.com/tech/sd.html/

In-Q-Tel isn't exactly "pretending not to be part of the CIA". Check out their website

"Our mission is to deliver leading edge technologies to the CIA and the Intelligence Community"

It's right there on the front page. In-Q-Tel isn't exactly covert.

OMG it's all Dubya's fault!

Wait...In-Q-Tel was started in 1999...pre-Dubya...head exploding...AAAHHH

http://www.in-q-tel.com/about/history.html

Prior to being at JHU's APL for the second time, Dr. Griffin was also the "president and chief operating officer of In-Q-Tel, a private, non-profit enterprise funded by the Central Intelligence Agency to identify and invest in companies developing cutting-edge technologies that serve national security interests."

Some may be familiar with In-Q-Tel as the CIA's private venture firm.

He had just rejoined APL last April. He was with APL in the 1980s, and left to become the technology chief for the Strategic Defense Initiative.

To expand a bit on what the summary said, "in addition to a doctorate in aerospace engineering, he holds master's degrees in aerospace science, electrical engineering, applied physics, civil engineering and business administration, and a bachelor's degree in physics." He is also the president-elect of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

There's no question he is not only a skilled academic with a clear appreciation for space sciences, but a competent administrator and manager as well, and experienced with Washington politics to boot. Let's hope he does well for NASA.

I had read a while back about the CIA and US Govt investing in startups - I think its quite possible that these guys are probably funded thus :)

In-Q-Tel makes no secret of the companies it invests in, though they are very careful with their money and perform a lot of due-diligence before making any investment. And to be pedantic, In-Q-Tel is not a Governmental agency, they just happen to concentrate their activity based on the needs of the Defense-Intelligence community. The company I work for is one of those that In-Q-Tel has invested in.

There are lots of programs in the Department of Defence that companies can apply to in order to get research money: you just need to know which back to scratch and get yourself noticed.

I had read a while back about the CIA and US Govt investing in startups - I think its quite possible that these guys are probably funded thus :)

In-Q-Tel makes no secret of the companies it invests in, though they are very careful with their money and perform a lot of due-diligence before making any investment. And to be pedantic, In-Q-Tel is not a Governmental agency, they just happen to concentrate their activity based on the needs of the Defense-Intelligence community. The company I work for is one of those that In-Q-Tel has invested in.

There are lots of programs in the Department of Defence that companies can apply to in order to get research money: you just need to know which back to scratch and get yourself noticed.

Are you guys familiar with In-Q-Tel? (It's mentioned in the article)

Here's an article.
and another...
and another...
and another...

In-Q-Tel is an independant, private, non-profit company funded by the U.S government with one objective:to identify and deliver next generation information technologies to support CIA's critical intelligence missions.

I wonder if they like soda?(Hi Cory!)

Isn't it funny that one of Safeweb's main investors is a company controlled by the CIA called In-Q-Tel. Here is Safeweb's investors page.