Daniel Ek, the CEO of Spotify, is doubling down: After an initial investment of €100 million in Helsing, a German start-up company specialising in AI military software, his investment firm, Prima Materia, is leading another investment of €600 million into the company. Now, Ek is also named chairman of Helsing.
And where is the money coming from? Simple: You, the paying Spotify subscriber. On the back of doling out pennies on the dollar to musicians, even demonetising a majority of music on the platform, and mass layoffs.
In May 2025, Music Business Worldwide reported that Ek has now cashed out more than $800 million in Spotify stock. The money now fuels the development of AI-powered drones, aircrafts, and submarines, and a new ‚Centaur‘ system that will integrate „advanced AI pilots“ into the cockpits of fighter aircrafts.
The implementation of AI in warfare brings a tidal wave of ethical questions to the already convoluted subject of war. In 2024, Kristian Humble wrote in the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs:
It is uncertain whether the ethical or moral questions surrounding conflict driven by algorithms and machines without human intervention can ever be answered. The use of automated drones, which are not weapons themselves but rather platforms to deliver weapons, is not specifically regulated under international law. […] The international community must establish an international legal framework that ensures humans always retain meaningful control over autonomous weapons systems and that systems do not select military targets during conflict autonomously.
And Queen Mary University of London’s Dr Elke Schwarz notes that „we don’t want to get to a point where AI is used to make a decision to take a life when no human can be held responsible for that decision.“
Leverage the Supply Side
Navigating the software landscape as a consumer has generally become a tricky moral tightrope walk. However, Spotify’s ethical failures have been well-documented: abysmally low royalty payments, platforming misinformation and rampant misogyny, bot infestations, and AI-generated content taking over real artists’ profiles.
Its hyperscaling growth attempt contributed significantly to the devaluation of music, although one could argue that it was an inevitable scenario with digitisation’s disruption of traditional gatekeepers.
Janosch Troehler
But now, there’s an undeniable connection between Spotify’s abusive business model and its profit to an AI weapon manufacturer via the person of Daniel Ek. Without ripping off the creativity of artists, his investment wouldn’t have occurred.
Sadly, the music industry will have to face this challenge and cannot rely on customers to make the decision. People will flock to the most affordable and convenient options, with the majority hardly considering the ethical implications.
The only lever here is the supply side.
