Mission before money: how Europe's defence startups are luring AI talent
A sense of patriotism stirred by the war in Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump's upending of security alliances is a motivation for many, as well as the opportunity to make money as European governments boost military spending.
For others, it's the appeal of working on cutting-edge battlefield applications that use artificial intelligence.
Reuters spoke to two dozen AI engineers, venture capital firms, government officials and defence companies in Europe who said the influx of tech talent reflected a changed political landscape as the United States retreats from its post-World War Two role as guarantor of Europe's defences.
"There are people that are really mission-focused, and what they want to do in their life is to have an impact and not only earn a big salary," said Loïc Mougeolle, CEO of Paris-based battlefield AI provider Comand AI.
"They're really motivated to have an impact rebuilding Europe and change the course of history for Europe."
There are longstanding ethical concerns about the use of AI in battlefield contexts. But the technology appeals to investors: Comand AI raised $10 million in a December funding round, while Germany's Alpine Eagle, which focuses on technology to counter autonomous drones, raised 10 million euros ($11.4 million) in March.
Amid intense competition for AI talent, Mougeolle said Comand AI has recruited engineers and product managers from U.S.-based ChatGPT maker OpenAI and data analytics provider Palantir Technologies.
Alpine Eagle plans to hire across product, engineering, business development and sales as it looks to expand outside Germany. "Europe, in terms of defence and also public security, is a huge market," CEO Jan-Hendrik Boelens told Reuters.
Salaries in Europe can be significantly lower than in the United States: Glassdoor data shows Helsing - Europe's only defence "unicorn", valued at over $1 billion - pays up to $150,000 per year for an AI engineer, compared with $270,000 at Palantir or $380,000 at Google.
Helsing declined to comment for this story.
As well as poaching experienced talent, companies like Comand AI, Helsing and Alpine Eagle are recruiting new graduates.
Stelios Koroneos, founder of variene.ai, a Greek defence tech startup, said the war in Ukraine had reduced the stigma around working in defence for many young engineers.
"Young people started realizing freedom does not come for free," Koroneos said. "You need to be able to defend yourselves. Some do it with guns and others do it with the knowledge they have and the things they build."
Julian Dierkes, a 27-year old doctoral student at Germany's RWTH Aachen University, researches reinforcement learning, which trains software to make autonomous decisions to achieve optimal results and has broad applications for defence.
"For me it is important if I do research in defence that I am protecting European democracies," he told Reuters.
STARTUPS SURGE
Defence startups have surged since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and technology - particularly drones - has helped keep Kyiv in the fight. PitchBook data shows venture capital investment in European defence companies reached $626 million in 2024, up from $254 million in 2023 and $62 million in 2022.
And Europe's rearmament plans promise more: the European Union aims to mobilise 800 billion euros ($911 billion) for defence while countries like Germany have pledged massive increases in their defence budgets.
According to the Zeki State of AI Talent Report, European defence companies are targeting top engineers as even established firms shift focus from hardware to software for everything from drones to troop-tracking technology.
Its analysis, based on a dataset of 800,000 people, found the number of top AI engineers in Europe's defence sector based on published research soared to 1,700 in 2024 from 144 in 2014. Comparable U.S. roles grew to 6,927 from 487 over the same period, according to Zeki data.
Zeki defined top talent as engineers with a proven track record of breaking new ground in AI discovery such as published research.
"We believe this represents significant and sustained growth in the sector," Zeki's chief executive Tom Hurd told Reuters.
Investors, tech workers and recruiters said unease with the current U.S. political environment was prompting some Europeans to seek opportunities at home. Deep cuts to funding for universities and research bodies by Trump's administration have prompted scientists in other disciplines to consider moving to Europe.
"Many of the world's top AI researchers come from Europe. Some went to the U.S., but many are returning to work on European sovereignty, resilience, and long-term value creation," said Jeannette zu Fürstenberg, managing director at U.S. venture capital firm General Catalyst in Berlin.
"I think that's a powerful signal."
MORE THAN MONEY
Benjamin Wolba last year co-founded the European Defense Tech Hub, which aims to connect tech founders, investors and policymakers and whose events have received sponsorship from Helsing and General Catalyst.
He said more than 12 defence tech startups had emerged from hackathons it organised in Munich, Copenhagen and Paris in 2024 that were attended by around 440 people. The privately-owned network hosted a similar event in Amsterdam last month.
"We're seeing growing anecdotal evidence that AI graduates are increasingly open to working in defence, especially over the past 12 months," Wolba said.
British university student Michael Rowley, 20, said he had recently rejected offers of accounting and more traditional AI jobs to work for a company developing technology that allows sensors to better track troop movements.
"When I decided to go into defence I had quite a few options, and for me it was the opportunity to do meaningful work," said Rowley, whose Tiresias startup won a tech event in Munich in February. "If I want to work for most tech companies I might write code for advertising, but to be able to contribute to the front lines and help protect democracy is an opportunity not many people get."
Marie Inuzuka worked at OpenAI and Palantir before joining Comand AI as a product manager in December last year, attracted by the opportunity to do "more mission-driven, impactful work".
The 34-year-old is a descendant of survivors of the 1945 U.S. bombing of Nagasaki.
"My grandparents lived through the atomic bomb, so defence has always been very close to my heart," she told Reuters.
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