Spotify CEO Daniel Ek becomes chairman of AI military start-up following €600 million investment

Daniel Ek, the CEO of Spotify, is leading a €600 million investment into Helsing, a start-up company specialising in AI military software.

According to Financial Times, the deal makes the German company one of Europe’s most valuable start-ups, now valued at some €12 billion.

Ek’s investment pledge was announced earlier this week (June 16) via his firm Prima Materia, which is now “doubling down” on their backing of the start-up following an earlier investment in 2021, Ek told FT.

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Helsing – which develops software for military use – is currently producing its own drones, aircrafts, and submarines, and is developing a new ‘Centaur’ system that will integrate “advanced AI pilots” into the cockpits of fighter aircrafts, Music Business Worldwide reports.

In 2021, Ek’s firm Prima Materia led a €100 million investment into Helsing, the first significant fund for the start-up. He is now named chairman of the company.

Following his earlier investment, artists including Darren Sangita and b l u e s c r e e n called for a boycott of Spotify, the latter telling Resident Advisor: “There's nothing ethical about it, no matter how you spin it. As an artist I cannot morally agree with inadequate payments of royalties to those whose entire livelihood is the reason for Daniel Ek's success.”

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“The world is being tested in more ways than ever before. That has sped up the timeline [for Helsing’s financing],” Ek told FT. “There’s an enormous realisation that it’s really now AI, mass and autonomy that is driving the new battlefield.”

Speaking on Russia’s war on Ukraine, where AI-powered drones have recently been deployed, Ek said: “We can’t understate the implications of that for this conflict or really any conflict going forward.”

“We’re now at an inflection point… where we are going from a software company to an all-domain, AI software and hardware company,” he said.

[Via Financial Times]

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Associate Digital Editor, follow her on Twitter