A defense AI company backed by Spotify founder Daniel Ek will supply up to €1.46 billion (roughly $1.74 billion) worth of unmanned kamikaze drones to the German armed forces, according to a Financial Times report.
Also making money from Tuesday’s deal is the Peter Thiel-backed Berlin-based drone maker Stark, which could make up to €2.86 billion (equivalent to $3.4 billion).
The Ek-backed company, Munich-based Helsing, is one of the largest defense startups in Europe, and makes strike drones and an uncrewed fighter jet.
Ek’s long-time support for the start-up has been nothing short of controversial. The Swedish billionaire’s venture capital firm Prima Materia is a key investor in Helsing, and Ek himself is a co-chairman. Recently, Prima Materia led a roughly $693 million investment round for the defense tech startup, which became the catalyst for widespread boycott calls as artists like Massive Attack and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard pulled their music from the streaming platform in protest.
“The economic burden that has long been placed on artists is now compounded by a moral and ethical burden, whereby the hard-earned money of fans and the creative endeavours of musicians ultimately funds lethal, dystopian technologies,” Massive Attack said at the time.
Spotify has repeatedly emphasized that it’s a completely separate company from Prima Materia. Ek stepped down as Spotify CEO last month, telling Reuters in October 2025 that he would instead focus his time on supporting European tech startups. But his presence at Spotify continues as executive chairman.
With governments across the world, including the United States, spending billions on contracts with AI companies, artificial intelligence is rapidly entrenching its role in modern warfare. But experts are worried about the unreliability of using still-developing technology in literal life-or-death situations, and the worrying gamification of warfare. AI-enabled war tech is especially deployed in active war zones like Ukraine and Gaza, both of which have been described as real-time testing grounds.
Helsing has signed contracts with France, the U.K., Estonia, and Ukraine. A Bloomberg report claimed last month that the company’s weapons systems in Ukraine were facing problems in front-line battle tests, but Helsing has denied those claims.
The AI-enhanced military tech ties are only one aspect of the increasing scrutiny Spotify has been enduring over the past year or so. The popular music streaming platform has gotten backlash over the way it treats the artists and its willingness to accept and even support AI-generated music. The organizers of the national No Kings protests, as well as other grassroots organizers, have also called for a boycott of Spotify after the platform ran ICE recruitment ads late last year.
Despite the numerous mounting boycott calls, Spotify had a fantastic quarter. The company’s latest quarter saw the most users added in a single quarter, executives said on a Tuesday earnings call, with monthly active users up 11% from a year ago.
