Daniel Ek

Daniel Ek (born 1983) is a Swedish entrepreneur who co-founded Spotify in 2006 and built it into the world’s dominant music-streaming service — a platform whose economics artists have contested for nearly two decades. Under Ek, Spotify embraced machine learning early, from Discover Weekly’s recommendations to the AI DJ launched in 2023, and Ek has said Spotify will not ban music made with AI tools, preferring policies against impersonation and deception over blanket prohibition.

From playlists to the battlefield

Ek’s deepest AI commitment lies outside music. Through his investment vehicle Prima Materia he backed Helsing, the Munich-based defense-AI company, in 2021, became its chairman, and in June 2025 led a €600 million round valuating Helsing at roughly €12 billion. He told the Financial Times that AI, mass and autonomy now drive the modern battlefield, framing the investment as essential to European security after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The bet ignited a revolt among musicians: artists including Deerhoof, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, and Massive Attack pulled catalogs or publicly boycotted Spotify in 2025, saying they did not want their streaming royalties funding military AI. Ek has been unmoved, arguing that helping democracies defend themselves is a moral position, not a compromise — and in early 2026 he stepped back from Spotify’s CEO role to executive chairman, deepening his focus on European deep tech.