Spotify founder Daniel Ek is investing 100 million euros in Helsing

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With one billion euros from his private assets, Spotify founder Daniel Ek wants to turn Europe into a tech location that can compete with the USA and China. The 38 year old announced last yearto want to invest primarily in deep tech in the next decade. On twitter he announced that he has now invested 100 million euros in the AI ​​startup Helsing. An unusually high level of follow-up funding for a controversial technology. Helsing had already received EUR 8.5 million in start-up capital in the spring, and the Zalando founders Robert Gentz ​​and Rubin Ritter participated.

The Helsing company, which was only founded at the beginning of this year by Torsten Reil, Niklas Köhler and Gundbert Scherf, wants to support military reconnaissance with artificial intelligence. Here it goes Handelsblatt according to mainly about helping officers to assess combat situations or select military targets. It is a piece of software designed to detect patterns behind the data from cameras, thermal images, radar data and other sensors.

Helsing does not want to sell to rogue states and dictators

The company emphasizes that the technology should expressly only be made available to democratic states. Possible customers are armies, security agencies or weapons manufacturers who can integrate the software into their systems. According to its own information, the company employs around 70 people. “Europe has a great opportunity to be a leader in building dynamic AI systems that are ethical, transparent and responsible,” wrote Ek in a statement on his investment.

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Using artificial intelligence for drone combat operations is controversial. Also because ethical issues have not been adequately clarified. The critic: Instead of carefully weighing up the situation, machines kill according to plan. The founders of Helsing emphasize that AI should only be used to make people’s decisions more reliable. The startup wants to concentrate initially on the German armed forces, but will also proceed internationally in the future. The former chief architect of the US AI company Palantir, which works with security authorities, also works for Helsing.

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