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Oracle started as a CIA project (2014)

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Re: Oracle started as a CIA project (2014)

#21

Post by jongjong »

CyanBird wrote: post #12
jongjong wrote: post #11

US startups seem to have it so easy compared to companies in other parts of the world. It seems they may have been getting a little extra help from government agencies. I'm starting to realize how difficult it is to compete in the tech sector without government assistance. I thought it was a free market, but it's looking increasingly like a giant clusterfuck of government intervention. It looks nothing like a free ma…

Not just "a little"... A LOT A good primer on the topic for the interested https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/how-the-cia-made-goo...

I sometimes wondered if the whole 'big data' craze was a symptom of too much government intervention... A projection of the needs of governments (not the needs of people). How valuable is people's data, really? I understand why people who work for the CIA are thirsty for data and believe that data is the most valuable resource in the universe... But why is the industry interested in it to that extent?

It's difficult to dispute the value of people's attention and trust, but their data... Common. Data seems more like a bonus; a way to monetize people's attention more efficiently (e.g. targeted ads). The main thing of value here (from a free market perspective) seems to be capturing people's attention in the first place.

Re: Oracle started as a CIA project (2014)

#23

Post by dang »

I feel like this has had more threads on HN but here are the related ones I found:

Larry Ellison's Oracle Started as a CIA Project (2014) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28386824 - Sept 2021 (4 comments)

Larry Ellison's Oracle Started as a CIA Project - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8342091 - Sept 2014 (1 comment)

Re: Oracle started as a CIA project (2014)

#24

Post by dontknowwhyihn »

jongjong wrote: post #21
CyanBird wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not just "a little"... A LOT A good primer on the topic for the interested https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/how-the-cia-made-goo...

I sometimes wondered if the whole 'big data' craze was a symptom of too much government intervention... A projection of the needs of governments (not the needs of people). How valuable is people's data, really? I understand why people who work for the CIA are thirsty for data and believe that data is the most valuable resource in the universe... But why is the industry interested in it to that extent? It's difficult…

The book “Surveillance Valley” makes a compelling case that the Internet was created with surveillance as its goal from the beginning.

Re: Oracle started as a CIA project (2014)

#25

Post by pkaye »

mikece wrote: post #2

Through In-Q-Tel, the CIA invested in a LOT of companies who were aiming to solve the problems they had. Google was another very early investment by In-Q-Tel on behalf of the NSA because Google's stated goal -- to collect, organize, and make sense of all of the world's data -- overlaps with what the NSA's goal is (and it's possible that Google might come up with better ideas and tech for doing it than the NSA's brain…

From the above link, In-Q-Tel was involved in Keyhole, which was acquired by Google. Can you show a source that In-Q-Tel directly invested in Google earlier?

> In-Q-Tel sold 5,636 shares of Google, worth over $2.2 million, on November 15, 2005.[10] The shares were a result of Google's acquisition of Keyhole, Inc, the CIA-funded satellite mapping software now known as Google Earth.[11]

Re: Oracle started as a CIA project (2014)

#26

Post by seiferteric »

dang wrote: post #23

I feel like this has had more threads on HN but here are the related ones I found: Larry Ellison's Oracle Started as a CIA Project (2014) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28386824 - Sept 2021 (4 comments) Larry Ellison's Oracle Started as a CIA Project - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8342091 - Sept 2014 (1 comment)

Sometime ago I posted this: https://tanelpoder.com/2009/03/14/the-real-history-of-oracle... probably not true, but fun to think about.

Re: Oracle started as a CIA project (2014)

#27

Post by groby_b »

cosmiccatnap wrote: post #19
chasil wrote: post #17

"What books you bought on Amazon is stored in an Oracle database." This has not been true for some time. https://www.theregister.com/2019/10/16/amazon_ditches_oracle...

...that we are aware of

Sure. The same applies to lizard overlords running the world.

Re: Oracle started as a CIA project (2014)

#28

Post by [deleted] »

jongjong wrote: post #21
CyanBird wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not just "a little"... A LOT A good primer on the topic for the interested https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/how-the-cia-made-goo...

I sometimes wondered if the whole 'big data' craze was a symptom of too much government intervention... A projection of the needs of governments (not the needs of people). How valuable is people's data, really? I understand why people who work for the CIA are thirsty for data and believe that data is the most valuable resource in the universe... But why is the industry interested in it to that extent? It's difficult…

[deleted]

Re: Oracle started as a CIA project (2014)

#29

Post by afarrell »

jongjong wrote: post #11

US startups seem to have it so easy compared to companies in other parts of the world. It seems they may have been getting a little extra help from government agencies. I'm starting to realize how difficult it is to compete in the tech sector without government assistance. I thought it was a free market, but it's looking increasingly like a giant clusterfuck of government intervention. It looks nothing like a free ma…

US federal government putting the thumb on the scale is not new. It has been happening ever since the officers who survived being under-supplied in valley forge got access to power.

https://www.nps.gov/pagr/learn/historyculture/the-birthplace...

Re: Oracle started as a CIA project (2014)

#30

Post by unity1001 »

mikece wrote: post #2

Through In-Q-Tel, the CIA invested in a LOT of companies who were aiming to solve the problems they had. Google was another very early investment by In-Q-Tel on behalf of the NSA because Google's stated goal -- to collect, organize, and make sense of all of the world's data -- overlaps with what the NSA's goal is (and it's possible that Google might come up with better ideas and tech for doing it than the NSA's brain…

Such investment should never be in the hands of unaccountable, black box organizations.
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