On August 20, an article adapted by The Wall Street Journal from the book Valley of Death: How Big Tech Fuels the Future of Warfare revealed a startling connection: Apple may have received unforeseen support from the CIA. In the 1980s, amid financial turmoil, the CIA stepped in to provide crucial funding to Steve Jobs’ NeXT company, helping it weather a severe crisis. Without this intervention, Jobs might never have returned to Apple to spearhead its remarkable comeback—and the foundational operating system code that powers the iPhone might never have been developed. During the peak of the Cold War, as tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union escalated, the CIA recognized the immense potential of NeXT computers for intelligence operations. Through the ESL Corporation, the agency struck a deal with Jobs, purchasing over 20,000 NeXT workstations and requesting custom modifications to meet specific intelligence needs. These advanced machines were later deployed by the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office for critical tasks, including processing satellite imagery, enabling real-time intelligence analysis, and facilitating global information sharing. This partnership not only secured a steady stream of orders for NeXT, allowing the company to scale up production, but also gave Jobs invaluable opportunities to refine his technical expertise and leadership abilities. In 1996, Apple acquired NeXT, paving the way for Jobs’ triumphant return to the company he co-founded. The NeXTSTEP operating system became the cornerstone of Apple’s future software developments, setting the stage for the company’s resurgence and the eventual creation of groundbreaking products like the iPhone.