Munich emerges as hub for AI weapons and autonomous drones

Munich is becoming a centre for autonomous drones and other AI-powered weapons as Germany increases military spending, BR reports. Of the 555 billion euros in the new federal budget, 110 billion euros is earmarked for the military, four times the amount allocated a decade ago.

“Across Europe, Munich is a pioneer,” said Maximilian Epp, defence industry adviser at the Munich Chamber of Industry and Commerce. He was referring to start-ups that combine artificial intelligence and military applications. Between 2022 and 2025, companies in Munich attracted 1.7 billion dollars in investment, Epp said.

At least eight such start-ups are already based in the city. They include Quantum-Systems, which manufactures reconnaissance drones, ARX Robotics, which develops small AI-controlled tanks, and Helsing, a defence technology start-up. Helsing established itself in Munich with help from a multimillion-euro investment by Spotify chief Daniel Ek.

Johannes König, chairman of the Left party in Munich, said the public debate was missing a basic understanding that warfare was being fundamentally transformed. He compared innovations in the AI arms industry with the invention of the atomic bomb and asked how much control humans could lose over decisions that lead to deaths.

Critics have pointed to Helsing’s HX-2 drone. It is a “loitering weapon” that circles over a target area before exploding, and is therefore also commonly called a kamikaze drone. Helsing declined an interview, citing the large number of requests.

Epp rejected criticism of the start-up and its AI-controlled drone. He said the most important principle was “the human in the loop”, meaning that a person remains responsible for deciding whether something is destroyed or shot down.

Helsing currently advertises that the HX-2 can remain under AI control even when its GPS signal is disrupted. Epp said a human would nevertheless still decide what the drone attacks.

Helsing has also addressed moral grey areas in developing its products. Robert Fink, a former Palantir employee who joined Helsing as technical director, said on the business-focused OMR podcast that he would feel better if the company did not have to exist. He nevertheless said he believed Europe would be worse off without Helsing.

Munich Mayor Dominik Krause of the Greens shares that view. In response to questions from Bayern 2 Zündfunk, he said Germany needed to develop its own capabilities because of growing threats and to ensure Europe’s defence capabilities.

Epp said many of the technologies developed in Munich were also dual-use and could benefit civilian society. König disagreed, arguing that societies that rearm dismantle democratic achievements. “Helsing’s drone is an attack drone that destroys itself and a target,” he said. “That has nothing to do with defence.”

The federal government is providing the financial framework. The Bundeswehr is an anchor customer for many of the start-ups, while the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs is supporting them as a venture capital provider through a new start-up and scale-up strategy.

The ministry says the funding applies only as long as humans retain control over autonomous weapons. The United Nations has been discussing the use of autonomous weapons systems for years and expects the deployment of weapons capable of attacking without human control to increase significantly.