In-Q-Tel

The CIA created In-Q-Tel in 1999 as an independent nonprofit corporation in Arlington, Virginia, to reach Silicon Valley startups that would not normally work with the government. It invests government money, usually small minority stakes, in young companies developing technology useful to intelligence and security agencies, and helps adapt their products for government use. Its partners now include the CIA, NSA, FBI, Defense Department, Homeland Security, and others.

In-Q-Tel has invested in hundreds of companies. Its best-known early investment was Keyhole, whose mapping software became Google Earth after Google bought the company in 2004, and it was an early investor in the data analysis company Palantir. Returns from successful investments are reinvested, and the firm's main measure of success is getting useful technology into agencies' hands rather than profit.

The model has been copied by the Army, other agencies, and allies such as Britain and NATO. Critics have questioned potential conflicts of interest when In-Q-Tel trustees and staff have ties to companies it invests in, and some technologists object to working with intelligence agencies. Supporters say it gives the government early access to innovation at low cost.