The CIA is very interested in your Tweets and Instagram photos

Soft robots that can grasp delicate objects, computer algorithms designed to spot an "insider threat," and artificial intelligence that will sift through large data sets -- these are just a few of the technologies being pursued by companies with investment from In-Q-Tel, the CIA's venture capital firm, according to a document obtained by The Intercept. Yet among the 38 previously undisclosed companies receiving In-Q-Tel funding, the research focus that stands out is social media mining and surveillance; the portfolio document lists several tech companies pursuing work in this area, including Dataminr, Geofeedia, PATHAR, and TransVoyant. SEE ALSO: CIA's venture capital arm is funding skin care products that collect DNA Those four firms, which provide unique tools to mine data from platforms such as Twitter, presented at a February "CEO Summit" in San Jose sponsored by the fund, along with other In-Q-Tel portfolio companies. The investments appear to reflect the CIA's increasing focus on monitoring social media. Last September, David Cohen, the CIA's second-highest ranking official, spoke at length at Cornell University about a litany of challenges stemming from the new media landscape.