CIA funding helped keep Abstract Expressionist artists like Jackson Pollock afloat, serving as propaganda for freedom of expression and individualism in contrast to Soviet collectivism.

American industries that is. (I’m currently reading the new Economic Hitman.)

Those sub-miniature microphones and speakers in your phones? More CIA investment, eventually commercialized by companies like Knowles.

they were an early sponsor of the research that yielded relational databases, so I guess we can thank them for Oracle as well

...and from US military perspective, a lot of these "investment" paid in the end to their favour, Id say?

It's not like CIA has some mastermind strategy, it is also a preferred career for old money nepo kids who gain quasi-global legal immunity from these government roles. CIA job is much better than being a honorary consul for some shithole just to evade parking tickets.

If those nepo kids like to mingle in the NYC artsy scene, then that's where the funds flow.

And somehow people freak out some bullshit about free market when there is gov intervention, even if it is reasonable

that's why they're called "the company" in insider circles. they still do, openly and probably also covertly. their investment arm is called in-q-tel https://www.iqt.org/portfolio , funding things like gitlab and docker. they probably run half of silicon valley. the dead giveaway is a funding story about 2 guys in a garage or dorm.