Spotify CEO, Daniel Ek, becomes chairman of AI military start-up after €600 million investment
The Spotify CEO, Daniel Ek, is leading a €600 million investment into a start-up company specialising in artificial intelligence military software.
As reported by Financial Times, Helsing is one of Europe’s most valuable start-ups. It is now valued at approximately €12 billion. The company is producing drones, aircraft and submarines. It is also developing a new “Centaur” system to integrate “advanced AI pilots” into the cockpits of fighter aircraft.
Ek’s pledge was announced on June 16th via his firm, Prima Materia. In 2021, Ek led an investment one sixth the size of the one announced this week. His initial €100 million investment into Helsig was the first significant funding received by the start-up.
His new investment has led to Ek being named chairman of the company. Speaking of the new investment, the business man has said, “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.”
Ek has faced backlash in the past for his previous investment into the firm. Australian producer Bluescreen denounced the move, telling Resident Advisor: “There’s nothing ethical about it, no matter how you spin it. I also left because it became apparent very quickly that Spotify’s CEO, as all billionaires, only got rich off the exploitation of others.”
In January, Spotify also received much backlash against the decision to donate $150,000 to US President Donald Trump’s inauguration fund. Alongside the donation, the music streaming service also held a celebratory brunch the day before the inauguration.
Though Spotify have embraced AI, as seen in the inclusion of AI DJs and AI-curated playlists all over the platform, Soundcloud have been clear in their rejection of the technology. “[We do not] develop AI tools or allow third parties to scrape or use SoundCloud content from our platform for AI training purposes,” said senior vice president and head of communications, Marni Greenberg.
She added: “In fact, we implemented technical safeguards, including a “no AI” tag on our site to explicitly prohibit unauthorised use.”
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