Daniel Ek—Daniel Ek led €600M investment in military AI drone maker Helsing, triggering artist boycott and CEO departure from Spotify
Spotify founder Daniel Ek, through his firm Prima Materia, led a €600M funding round for Helsing (European defense AI company making autonomous combat drones), valuing it at $12B. Ek serves as Helsing chairman. Multiple artists including Massive Attack, King Gizzard, and Deerhoof pulled music from Spotify, calling it a 'moral and ethical burden' that fan money funds 'lethal, dystopian technologies.' Ek stepped down as Spotify CEO effective January 1, 2026, transitioning to executive chairman. Spotify stock fell 23% following the announcement.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Military & Defense Contracts | +toward | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.885 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.59)
Evidence (1 signal)
Daniel Ek led €600M investment in defense AI company Helsing, triggering Massive Attack and other artist boycotts
Spotify founder Daniel Ek, through Prima Materia, led Helsing's €600M funding round in June 2025, valuing it at $12B. Ek serves as Helsing chairman. Massive Attack pulled their music from Spotify calling it a 'moral and ethical burden', joined by King Gizzard, Deerhoof, and Xiu Xiu. Ek stepped down as CEO effective Jan 1, 2026, citing plans to focus on building 'European supercompanies.' Spotify stock fell 23% after announcement.