Kai Ryssdal and Andie Corban
The Central Intelligence Agency is responsible for collecting information relevant to national security, updating policymakers and conducting top-secret actions. Also running an investment firm called In-Q-Tel. According to its website, its mission is to “be the premier partner trusted to identify, evaluate, and leverage emerging commercial technologies for the U.S. national security community and America’s allies.”
“Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal spoke with Jon Keegan, tech reporter at Sherwood News, about the companies the CIA is investing in. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.
Kai Ryssdal: The CIA, it turns out, has an investment arm. Say more.
Jon Keegan: Yeah, this is unusual. It’s not exactly breaking news that this company exists, but it’s an interesting moment to be looking at it. So, back in 1999, the CIA decided that they needed to get their hands into the technology that was emerging from Silicon Valley. It was an exciting time. The internet was just booming. All these companies were developing all this cool technology. And over on the other side of the country, the CIA was watching, and so they started a venture capital firm. It’s a most unusual venture capital firm. It’s a nonprofit, and they are looking for companies that are making technology that could be useful to them.
Ryssdal: We’re going to get into the technology they’re investing in in a minute. But I want to give people a sense of the size and the scale of this thing. Since 2011 you write, In-Q-Tel, which is the name of this investment firm, the nonprofit that CIA has established, they’ve gotten $1.2 billion in taxpayer money in the last 13, 14 years. How does it work?
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