The CIA’s In-Q-Tel is Investing in Startups That Can Predict the Future

We tend to unknowingly or neglectfully expose a lot of our personal data on the internet and often times it’s not our fault. Social networks and digital applications, marketed as a utility or source of entertainment, can also be used for mining data and giving corporations incredible insight into our personal lives. That data is then analyzed and stored to develop a profile that decides the best way to target us with advertisements.
That’s not so surprising anymore; we’ve become keen on recognizing these marketing techniques and come to expect them. It becomes unsettling however when the CIA has a role in this game and seeds start-ups to develop technology to mine data for its clandestine agenda. This is also nothing new, but not many people are aware of the CIA’s venture capital arm, In-Q-Tel, which has backed some of Silicon Valley’s most prevalent advents, influencing widely used Google apps and possibly even Facebook. So, what is In-Q-Tel, and should we be concerned?
In-Q-Tel’s Keyhole Becomes Google Earth
In the early 2000s, the development of Google Earth made geospatial technology an exciting prospect in the tech world. Unsurprisingly, this technology was controversial and banned in some countries due to national security concerns and privacy issues. What is also unsurprising is that it was originally developed by a startup that was funded by In-Q-Tel, called Keyhole EarthViewer. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, or NGA, was cultivated out of this new technology as a parallel branch to the NSA that focuses on exploiting and analyzing geographical information and activity.
In-Q-Tel’s budget started off at $28 million in its first year and has been somewhat hazy ever since. After Sept. 11, 2001, the government’s black budget for intelligence agencies increased dramatically, with the CIA now receiving about $14.7 billion. In-Q-Tel can access this money without having to fully disclose its spending. It also doesn’t participate in requests for comments or interviews with the media.
In-Q-Tel, since its inception in 1999, continues to fund start-ups in the tech world ranging from skincare lines to novel drone technology, but much of its investment goes into data mining. These tools collect, store, and analyze data to create profiles on individuals, groups, and events that are of interest to the CIA, law enforcement, and corporations. Often these programs mine platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to monitor activist protests, influential “decision-makers,” and trends. One day these algorithms surveil our personal data and activity, and the next they’re being sold to corporations for advertising.

In-Q-Tel ‘s Keyhole, Inc developed Google Earth
Who is in In-Q-Tel?
In-Q-Tel is headed by Gilman Louie, a former video game designer, turned venture capitalist. Some have made note of Louie’s connections with board members of the venture capital firms that gave Facebook the funding to become the social media juggernaut it is today. One of its connections is to James Breyer, a partner and board member of Accel, the company that invested $12.7 million in Facebook’s Series A funding.
Louie and Breyer sat together on the board of military defense contractors, BBN, known for essentially helping to create email and the internet. Facebook’s second round of funding came from a company called Greylock Venture Capital, headed by Howard Cox, who also sat on In-Q-Tel’s board.
Another interesting connection that has been made with Louie is his role with Niantic, the mobile gaming company that created Pokèmon Go. Louie was added to the board of the company for his strategic insight into both gaming and venture capital investment. The augmented reality technology for Pokèmon Go was also a product of Keyhole, Inc., the In-Q-Tel funded start-up that became Google Earth.
Users of the game are required to allow the program to access personal data ranging from geolocation services to camera access, and it even has the capability to remotely read, modify, or delete files on a user’s phone. The program can track where users are, where they’ve been, what they look like, and multitudes of personal information that could be used to create profiles and spy on individuals. This begs the question; is this a beta test for a larger CIA-sponsored program?
What is In-Q-Tel Investing In?
While this may seem overly paranoid, it falls in line with other In-Q-Tel tech investments. Dataminr is one such blatantly named startup that uses Twitter data to spot trends that can be used to benefit law enforcement, ostensibly monitoring for terrorist threats. But what else can this data be used for and what are the ethical concerns with the profiles that are being built with this information?
Edward Snowden’s exposé showed the NSA’s ability to use metadata to paint a very intrusive image of innocent civilians. This technology could be easily manipulated with a deluge of false tweets sent to intentionally cause panic, considering the tweets aren’t verified. An attack of this nature could be carried out by hackers or even the government itself in a false flag operation.
Other companies In-Q-Tel has invested in that monitor and analyze social media data include GeoFeedia, Pathar, and TransVoyant. But one of the more invasive projects in this space, a program named Palantir, is as unsettling in its scope as its name infers. Palantír, in Lord of the Rings, is an omniscient crystal ball that can see anything, anywhere, including into the past and future.
The company was created by Peter Thiel, founder of PayPal and former board member of Facebook with other In-Q-Tel venture capitalists. Palantir created a system, much like the premise of the movie Minority Report, where law enforcement can predict crime before it happens. It has been touted for its success in military applications and is being implemented in law enforcement with “predictive policing” efforts. The prescience of Philip K. Dick’s dystopian police state is uncanny. Some believe this is already a factor in the recent disparities in police shootings and as an instigating force in growing police militarization.

In-Q-Tel invests in predictive policing tech
In-Q-Tel’s business model made it highly successful in a number of ways, and it has essentially become an indicator of success in the venture capital world, with every $1 of investment from In-Q-Tel drawing up to $15 from private investors. So, if In-Q-Tel decides it likes a startup’s idea, its investment will draw significant attention from other venture capitalists, letting the private sector fund technology that benefits the CIA’s clandestine programs.
In-Q-Tel also only answers to the CIA instead of traditional investors, despite the CIA’s funding coming from taxpayer dollars. It is considered a non-profit that is unconcerned with monetary earnings, but rather tech capital – again easy to do when you don’t have to answer to investors. A contract with the CIA is now like gold for tech startups looking for seed funding, given the success, influence, and amount of money In-Q-Tel has, but where should we draw the line for government access and transparency? If this technology is being used to spy on us, perpetuate the militarization of law enforcement, and potentially create a more aggressive police state, shouldn’t we have a say in these things?
Mass Media Mind Control

I have had wide and varied interests since a very young age and have loved learning all of my life. Simply, I believe life should be lived as a great adventure of growth and learning in every way. In science, my interests started in crystallography and minerals and progressed through the several branches of science into politics, philosophy, religion and all things esoteric.
What is Mind Control?
In the late 1980s, the most interesting research I began exploring was on mind effects or, more popularly, mind control. My interest grew out of the misuses of the information released in the Church Committee hearings of the 1970s dealing with the CIA programs in this area. At the same time, the positive possibilities for these new technologies were also exciting. Stimulating optimum human performance, accelerated learning, meditation, relaxation, and focus could all be improved. In fact, even so-called altered states could be enhanced or even stimulated. The most fascinating possibilities, however, were even more startling.
The idea that perhaps we could stimulate what is now referred to in some literature as “anomalous human capability” or, in the past referred to as ESP or extrasensory perceptions, may be possible.
In fact, this may be the next evolution of humans on earth as many of us are acknowledging and science is proving.
Control of the Mind and Body
The predominant brain wave frequencies indicate the kind of activity taking place in the brain. There are four basic groups of brain wave frequencies that are associated with most mental activity. The first, beta waves, (13-35 Hertz or pulses per second) are associated with normal activity. The high end of this range is associated with stress or agitated states that can impair thinking and reasoning skills. The second group, alpha waves (8-12 Hertz), can indicate more relaxation. Alpha frequencies are ideal for learning and focused life form energy. The third, theta waves (4-7 Hertz), indicate mental imagery, access to memories and internal mental focus. This state is often associated with young children, behavioral modification and sleep/dream states. The last, ultra slow, delta waves (.5-3 Hertz), are found when a person is in deep sleep.
The general rule is that the brain’s predominant wave frequency will be lowest, in terms of pulses per second, when relaxed, and highest when people are most alert or agitated.
What is Entrainment?
External stimulation of the brain by electromagnetic means can cause the brain to be entrained or locked into phase with an external signal generator. Predominant brain waves can be driven or pushed into new frequency patterns by external stimulation. In other words, the external signal driver or impulse generator entrains the brain, overriding the normal frequencies, and causing changes in the brain waves. Changes in brain waves cause changes in brain chemistry; which then cause changes in brain outputs in the form of thoughts, emotions or physical condition.
As you are driven, so you arrive – brain manipulation can be either beneficial or detrimental to the individual being impacted depending on the level of knowledge or the intentions of the person controlling the technology.
Is it Possible to Train Consciousness?
Consciousness training is also a big theme in cults, religious organizations, and others pursuing the “new age.” Science has now gained a greater understanding of how the mind and brain work so that what used to take years, or even decades, to achieve, can now be mastered in weeks, days or even minutes. For instance, in 1996 a method and apparatus for the use in achieving alpha and theta brainwave states and effecting positive emotional states in humans were developed.
Two years later another patent was issued which could create desired consciousness states: In the training of an individual to replicate such states of consciousness without further audio stimulation, such states may be transferred from one human being to another through the imposition of one person’s EEG, superimposed on desired stereo signals and onto another individual, by inducement of a binaural beat phenomenon.
Is Thought Transference Possible?
This is interesting in that it speaks to the ideas alluded to earlier by the military in changing the memory of a person by imposing computer-manipulated signals which would integrate with the normal memory of a person. The possibility of abuse is obvious and the opportunity for personal advancement is also great.
Consider the possibility of gaining education by the transfer of data directly into the human brain by these new methods rather than the standard methods of learning. A serious consideration in developing these types of memory transfer systems will be the fact that they bypass normal intellectual filters – they are deposited into the brain as fact, without question or careful consideration. What happens when new information conflicts with existing information? Would it be possible to include hidden information meant to unduly influence things like religious beliefs, politics or consumption of goods and services or politics?
Ethical Questions Abound
The possibilities are immense and the ethical and moral questions surrounding these matters equally large. We can no longer avoid the debate; in fact, the debate is lagging far behind the scientific advancements. In the interim, there are some simple things we could all do to enhance our own, or our children’s, learning capacity by applying simple and available knowledge. For instance: “researchers at the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory at University of California, Irvine, have determined that 10 minutes of listening to a Mozart piano sonata raised the measurable IQ of college students by up to nine points.” This is a simple thing of great use to anyone seeking self- improvement as an example.
There are several articles and materials that speak to the various ways that these technologies can be applied and used beyond the scope of this article. Let’s get to the media applications.
The Use of Media
Radio, TV, the Internet, the power grid, cell systems or any other electromagnetic carrier can be used to carry a signal that will influence the behaviors of most people in close proximity to the signal. What such signals can do is cause a person, for instance, to drop into a light altered state. Like when people come home from work, sit in front of the TV and watch the nightly news feed. Within a few moments someone begins saying to you, “honey, dinners ready.” They hear nothing… they are no longer watching the “programming;” they are being programmed with the latest values, beliefs, and ideas being pressed into the consciousness of most people through media.
By oscillating a signal in a certain way, emotional states can easily be reformed so that the reaction to the advertising, political propaganda or “news” is as predicted by those generating it across the broad population as intended by them.
In other words, it is about control and manipulation. It is really very simple. People in psychology understand the Frequency Following Response (FFR). When applied to advertise or any other media, it is incredibly compelling.
Refined Control Tactics
Much more can be done with this technology in terms of the information density that can be sent in on such carriers. The objective of many military planners is to be able to even transfer thought and memory sets. These kinds of technology when applied to media particularly when coupled with mass surveillance of the population this allows those in control of such technologies to have profound effects on a highly individualized basis. This delivery system can be tailored to an individual person to have specific influences on that individual personality type and subtype.
The predictability of behavior for the target of the technology is so refined that is better at predicting an individual’s future behavior they could about themselves. Think about this for a moment.
Perpetual Worry as a Means of Imprisonment
Yet the simplest mechanism for inhibiting higher mind functions, peak performance, and anomalous human capabilities is to just keep people in a constant state of worry, agitation, and fear. Sound familiar? In these states, it is not possible to reach a higher state of awareness. These emotional states do not allow the brain to operate in a manner that will allow this possibility. Fear is the adversary and is at the root of the misuses of these technologies. The government fears an enlightened population where the light of truth shines within its darkest corners. An awakened population cannot be resisted by structures based on fear.
The Next Evolution of Humankind
After 40 years of research in the open literature and opportunities to meet and spend the time needed with the best bio-physicists in the world has allowed me insight into this area. During my time with the Lay Institute in Dallas, I put together a private conference on mind effects with some of the best people in the world. The surprise was not a story about controlling people and manipulating populations, although everyone agreed this was the case in the 21st century in so many ways. The biggest insight had to do with the next evolution of humankind.
Voiced first by the late sister, Dr. Rosalie Bertell, in her presentation about her belief that in what man was trying to create in electronics were already latent in every person waiting to be awakened. The theme was repeated in every presentation that explored the possibilities of reclaiming our birthright in terms of what we are as human beings and the endless possibilities that occur when we begin to recognize ourselves.
As we evolve and grow within the framework of this reality we also are beginning to recognize in the science of consciousness and what we know…we are more than we think, and we are beyond what we know. Together we change the world by fearlessly knowing that we each have all that we need to engage the world and are not alone in it. Our humanity is in fact our very salvation if we can recognize and alter our awareness.