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Daniel Ek—Led €600M investment in Helsing military AI company, became chairman

· $660.0M

Daniel Ek's venture capital firm led a €600 million funding round in Helsing, a German-French defense tech company developing AI-powered military technology including combat drones used in Ukraine. Ek became Helsing's chairman. The investment sparked artist boycotts with bands like King Gizzard, Massive Attack, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor removing music from Spotify, saying 'We don't want our music killing people.'

Scoring Impact

TopicDirectionRelevanceContribution
Military & Defense Contracts+towardprimary-1.00
Overall incident score =-0.885

Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.59)

Evidence (1 signal)

Confirms Investment Jun 1, 2025 verified

Led €600M investment in Helsing military AI company, became chairman

Daniel Ek's venture capital firm led a €600 million funding round in Helsing, a German-French defense tech company developing AI-powered military technology including combat drones used in Ukraine. Ek became Helsing's chairman. The investment sparked artist boycotts with bands like King Gizzard, Massive Attack, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor removing music from Spotify, saying 'We don't want our music killing people.'

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