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Spotify CEO Daniel Ek invested in AI-based defence technology – Spotify users are upset: “Music is being used as a weapon”
A year ago, Daniel Ek, CEO of streaming giant Spotify, announced his intention to invest a billion dollars in European start-ups. Now Prima Materia, the investment firm led by Ek, is reported to have invested €100 million in the British-German company Helsing.
This is what Helsing says on its website:
“We believe that software – and, in particular, artificial intelligence will be the key capability to keep liberal democracies from harm. Our ambition is to achieve global technology leadership inrealtime information processing, turning unstructured sensordata into information advantage for democratic governments. Our platform aims to provide the clearest picture possible in any operating environment. We’re looking for people with their heart in the right place, who share our conviction that liberal democratic values are worth protecting, for ourselves and for future generations.”
PitchBook, a website dedicated to data analytics, writes that Helsing is a “developer of a real-time platform designed to offer security and artificial intelligence based services. The company’s platform uses artificial intelligence to integrate data from infrared, video, sonar and radio frequencies, gleaned from sensors on military vehicles, to create a real-time picture of battlefields, enabling clients to execute faster and more reliable decisions.”
Ek’s investment decision has angered some Spotify users. Social media quickly became a source of debate and calls to boycott the streaming giant.
“Cancel your subscription today. Artists and music lovers must not support the military AI industry! Register your anger at Spotify involvement in sponsorship of Arms Corporations. This is so vile. Music is NOT War! Just wrong on every level”, ambient producer Darren Sangita writes.
Sangita comments the following for Resident Advisor:
“Music is being used as a weapon. We believe in music as a powerful tool for peace, otherwise it’s a complete contradiction of our music philosophy.”
Helsing commented to Silicon Canals that it will follow a strict ethical code of conduct, and will only offer its services to “countries which meet the highest democratic standards”.
Ek commented to TechCrunch on his investment:
“We founded Prima Materia to advance ambitious science and technology to solve the world’s biggest challenges and help society progress towards a better future… Europe has a tremendous opportunity to lead in building dynamic AI systems in an ethical, transparent, and responsible manner. Torsten, Gundbert, Niklas, and the entire Helsing team take this responsibility seriously and are driven by the same values and ambition that led us to start Prima Materia.”