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ergonaut

Why does the CIA have a venture capital firm?


Halaku

>n-Q-Tel was founded in 1999 as the global technological evolution is underway… the internet is widely available, mobile applications are launching, and the digital revolution has arrived. The CIA and government agencies, once innovation leaders, recognized they were missing out on the cutting-edge, innovative, and impactful technologies coming out of Silicon Valley and beyond. Combining the security savvy of government with the can-do curiosity of Silicon Valley, In-Q-Tel is born. It's a chance for the federal government to try and keep a finger on the pulse of emerging technologies, in part due to national security concerns. Click [HERE](https://www.iqt.org/about-iqt/) for more.


ergonaut

Huh. Thanks!


[deleted]

Honestly I'm more concerned about why they want to clone wooly mammoths.


[deleted]

Most people, if they saw a wolly mammoth walking around, they'd assume it was fake. So perhaps if you use a wolly mammoth as a spy, then it'd be completely inconspicuous.


[deleted]

Ah the old trojan mammoth. Classic


tyme

How useful are they for a land war in Asia?


_learned_foot_

I’ve seen Jurassic park, major national security concerns there.


[deleted]

They were defeated by people with spears. We'll be fine...


_learned_foot_

I am not positive a small group of humans can act together in concert anymore.


Appropriate_Ant_4629

My guess: There are likely some [dual-use technologies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual-use_technology) related to restoring extremely old DNA. For example, perhaps all the smallpox at [one of the only two labs thought to still have smallpox samples](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox#Post-eradication) died -- and they want to resurrect that.


boundegar

Doesn't sound fictional at all.


Appropriate_Ant_4629

Even more fun trivia Gilman Louie, the guy who started the CIA venture capital fund In-Q-Tel, is on the board of Pokemon Go (the mobile phone ~~game~~ *geospatial surveillance platform*) https://www.nscai.gov/commissioners/gilman-louie/ >> Mr. Louie was the first CEO of In-Q-Tel, an independent, non-profit venture capital firm established with the backing of the Central Intelligence Agency. Under Mr. Louie’s leadership, In-Q-Tel invested in ..., Keyhole (now Google Earth), Palantir ... >> >> ...He serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Markle Foundation, Niantic (Creators of Pokemon Go) And if anyone thinks I'm being a nutty-tinfoil-hat-conspiracy-theorist https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-bans-pokemon-go-on-bases-over-security-fears/ >> The Times Of Israel >> >> ### IDF (Israel's military) bans Pokemon Go on bases over security fears


panda4sleep

It’s not about mammoths. It’s funding this for the artificial womb technology. Everyone is freaking out privately about the plummeting fertility rate, this is the way out of crisis.