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Google Maps was basically pieced together from smaller companies they acquired. From Wikipedia: Google Earth was originally developed by Keyhole, Inc., a Mount
by 18pfsmt 9y ago
Google Maps was basically pieced together from smaller companies they acquired. From Wikipedia:
Google Earth was originally developed by Keyhole, Inc., a Mountain View-based company founded in 2001. Keyhole, after being spun off from Intrinsic Graphics, received funding from the Central Intelligence Agency's venture capital firm, In-Q-Tel and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, in addition to smaller capital from Nvidia and Sony.
- bhhaskin 9y agoYou are right. Google maps & earth where bought at the same time and share most of their data.
- schoen 9y agoI believe that Keyhole itself was named after a spy satellite series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_Hole https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_Hole (But I don't know whether there was any other connection between the company and NRO.)
- sterlind 9y agoIC-funded startups are often founded by ex-IC people. "Keyhole" was the logical name to choose, since In-Q-Tel is more than familiar with the real deal. it makes the VC pitch much clearer to .gov backers.