CIA launches CIA Labs for R&D

Officers, private sector professionals to develop mission tech in "new skunkworks" lab

Published September 22, 2020 by Sydney Lake

The Central Intelligence Agency, based in McLean, announced Monday it has launched CIA Labs, which will see its officers collaborate with private sector professionals, academic professionals and others to develop mission technology.

CIA Labs will be part of the Federal Laboratory Consortium and will conduct research, development, testing and engineering for scientific and technological issues. 

The lab’s research areas will include:

• advanced materials and manufacturing
• artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics
• bioscience and biotechnology
• distributed ledger/blockchain-enabled technologies
• virtual and augmented reality
• high performance and quantum computing
• future wireless and telecommunications technologies 
• robotic, autonomous, and human interface systems

Through CIA Labs, officers will now be able to publicly file patents for intellectual property they work on and collect some of the profits, according to reports. 

“Officers who develop new technologies at CIA Labs will be allowed to patent, license and profit from their work, making 15% of the total income from the new invention, with a cap of $150,000 per year. That could double most agency salaries and make the work more competitive with Silicon Valley,” according to the MIT Technology Review, which described CIA Labs as “a new skunkworks.” 

The CIA is seeking participants from technology and technical fields, including other federal labs and academia, according to an agency statement. Those who are interested in working with CIA Labs can visit the agency’s website to submit partnership and project ideas.  

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