Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

Sweden on the verge of becoming technologically peripheral – think tank

Published 17 October 2024
– By Editorial Staff
3 minute read

Fredrik Erixon, head of the think tank ECIPE, writes in an opinion piece that Sweden is one of the major losers in the new wave of global protectionism, which he sees spreading rapidly.

He argues that “Sweden is making a downward technological class journey” and that the country is quickly becoming more “peripheral” in a range of technology-related fields.

Erixon, who has a background at the investment bank JP Morgan and the neoliberal think tank Timbro, points out that the U.S. under recent presidents has distanced itself from “the economic world order that emerged after World War II” and instead shifted toward increased protectionism—believing that the current world economic order “is not capable of handling new geopolitical conflicts”.

“That attitude also extends to climate policy: the US, like the EU now as well, no longer accepts an international climate policy framework where China can continue a fossil-fueled economic expansion while Western companies become less competitive due to rising energy costs. The world economy is moving into a protectionist spiral”, he continues.

According to the lobbyist, “Sweden is one of the major losers” in this new era of protectionism – because “we are too small an economy to play hardball when dealing with economic frictions”.

“Sweden cannot compete based on the power of large numbers: we don’t have a population size that allows us to influence other countries with dazzling consumer demand, investments, natural resources, and so on. They can manage without us. At the same time, we are enormously dependent on economic openness for our prosperity and for access to services and technologies from the rest of the world”.

“Once at the forefront”

He also raises a warning about what he sees as Sweden’s tendency to align with an “EU policy that is more inward-looking and fearful of competition”, arguing that particularly “high-tech and research-intensive sectors” in Sweden have suffered under EU policies, and that Sweden’s passivity has damaged its geoeconomic influence.

“Sweden is making a downward technological class journey. In recent years, the government has created various incentives for a larger share of investments to go to ‘mid-tech’ technologies like batteries and green steel. The GDP effect from these technologies is limited. In major transversal technologies like materials, AI and quantum technology, telecommunications and space technology, and biotechnology, Sweden is becoming increasingly peripheral—even though we were once at the forefront of these technologies and their commercialization”, he laments.

Calls for government investment

According to Erixon, the solution is for the authorities to start using their “state capacity” to improve Sweden’s geoeconomic position -through targeted political efforts and by offering businesses “better tax incentives and more attractive conditions for research-intensive activities and human capital to locate in Sweden”.

“Especially in transversal technologies – that is, technologies expected to drive much of future innovation and structural transformation in the economy”, he continues.

He concludes with a recommendation that the government’s spending on research and development should be “at least” 5 percent of GDP within ten years – and that the state should begin by allocating an additional 500 billion SEK to strategic research over the coming decade.

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Sweden faces declining birth rates – government launches inquiry into causes

Published yesterday 16:47
– By Editorial Staff
Even during periods of economic prosperity, few Swedes choose to have children. This trend continues despite Sweden's internationally recognized comprehensive social welfare system and generous parental benefits.
2 minute read

Birth rates in Sweden have reached historically low levels. During 2023, the average was 1.43 children per woman – the lowest figure ever recorded. Now the Swedish government is launching an investigation to understand why fewer people want to start families.

– The state needs to consider factors that create barriers to having children, such as housing, economy, gender equality, and work-life balance, said Swedish Social Affairs Minister Jakob Forssmed (Christian Democrats) at a press conference on Monday.

If this trend continues, each new generation will be approximately 30 percent smaller than the previous one. This poses significant consequences for the labor market and welfare system when fewer working-age individuals must support a growing elderly population.

– Having children should be a personal choice, but it affects society at large, noted Forssmed, who also identified modern dating culture as one of the culprits.

– There are indications that relationships formed through dating apps are generally more short-lived and therefore less likely to lead to family formation.

During 2023, 95,800 children were born in Sweden – a decrease of 1,600 compared to the previous year, according to Statistics Sweden. The decline is visible across all regions and social groups.

Low birth rates despite economic boom

Historically, birth rates have often followed economic cycles, but this correlation has broken down. Despite strong economic growth during the 2010s and a parental benefits system that is both generous and well-functioning by international standards, birth rates have continued to decline.

– Birth rates are decreasing despite Sweden experiencing an economic boom and having a largely well-functioning preschool system and generous parental leave, says Forssmed.

The Swedish government now wants to identify other factors that may be causing young people to refrain from having children. According to research cited by Forssmed, today one in four young women hesitates to become a parent – a sharp increase compared to ten years ago when the figure was one in ten.

One partial explanation highlighted by the Social Affairs Minister is the challenging and, for many, inaccessible Swedish housing market.

– For many, the dream of owning a house is delayed or remains unfulfilled.

Mental health and existential crises

The government also wants to examine more existential factors: how concerns about the future, mental health issues, and feelings of meaningfulness affect views on parenthood.

– We know that many young people seek psychiatric care and many report that life lacks meaning. It’s difficult to envision caring for children when it’s challenging to take care of your own well-being, Forssmed continued.

The task of leading the government investigation has been assigned to Åsa Hansson, Associate Professor of Economics. The reference group includes Anna Björklund, author of “Kvinnomanualen” (The Woman’s Manual), and Micael Dahlén, Professor of Happiness and Well-being at the Stockholm School of Economics.

Spotify fills playlists with fake music – while CEO invests millions in military AI

The future of AI

Published yesterday 15:55
– By Editorial Staff
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek accused of diverting artist royalties to military AI development.
3 minute read

Swedish streaming giant Spotify promotes anonymous pseudo-musicians and computer-generated music to avoid paying royalties to real artists, according to a new book by music journalist Liz Pelly.

Meanwhile, criticism grows against Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, who recently invested over €600 million in a company developing AI technology for future warfare.

In the book Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist, Liz Pelly reveals that Spotify has long been running a secret internal program called Perfect Fit Content (PFC). The program creates cheap, generic background music – often called “muzak” – through a network of production companies with ties to Spotify. This music is then placed in Spotify’s popular playlists, often without crediting any real artists.

The program was tested as early as 2010 and is described by Pelly as Spotify’s most profitable strategy since 2017.

“But it also raises worrying questions for all of us who listen to music. It puts forth an image of a future in which – as streaming services push music further into the background, and normalize anonymous, low-cost playlist filler – the relationship between listener and artist might be severed completely”, Pelly writes.

By 2023, the PFC program controlled hundreds of playlists. More than 150 of them – with names like Deep Focus, Cocktail Jazz, and Morning Stretch – consisted entirely of music produced within PFC.

“Only soulless AI music will remain”

A jazz musician told Pelly that Spotify asked him to create an ambient track for a few hundred dollars as a one-time payment. However, he couldn’t retain the rights to the music. When the track later received millions of plays, he realized he had likely been deceived.

Social media criticism has been harsh. One user writes: “In a few years, only soulless AI music will remain. It’s an easy way to avoid paying royalties to anyone.”

“I deleted Spotify and cancelled my subscription”, comments another.

Spotify has previously faced criticism for similar practices. The Guardian reported in February that the company’s Discovery Mode system allows artists to gain more visibility – but only if they agree to receive 30 percent less payment.

Spotify’s CEO invests in AI for warfare

Meanwhile, CEO Daniel Ek has faced severe criticism for investing over €600 million through his investment firm Prima Materia in the German AI company Helsing. The company develops software for drones, fighter aircraft, submarines, and other military systems.

– The world is being tested in more ways than ever before. That has sped up the timeline. There’s an enormous realisation that it’s really now AI, mass and autonomy that is driving the new battlefield, Ek commented in an interview with Financial Times.

With this investment, Ek has also become chairman of Helsing. The company is working on a project called Centaur, where artificial intelligence will be used to control fighter aircraft.

The criticism was swift. Australian producer Bluescreen explained in an interview with music site Resident Advisor why he chose to leave Spotify – a decision several other music creators have also made.

– War is hell. There’s nothing ethical about it, no matter how you spin it. I also left because it became apparent very quickly that Spotify’s CEO, as all billionaires, only got rich off the exploitation of others.

Competitor chooses different path

Spotify has previously been questioned for its proximity to political power. The company donated $150,000 to Donald Trump’s inauguration fund in 2017 and hosted an exclusive brunch the day before the ceremony.

While Spotify is heavily investing in AI-generated music and voice-controlled DJs, competitor SoundCloud has chosen a different path.

– We do not develop AI tools or allow third parties to scrape or use SoundCloud content from our platform for AI training purposes, explains communications director Marni Greenberg.

– In fact, we implemented technical safeguards, including a ‘no AI’ tag on our site to explicitly prohibit unauthorised use.

FUTO – the obvious choice for privacy-friendly voice and text input on mobile devices

Advertising partnership with Teuton Systems

Ditch Google's input apps and keep what you type and say on your phone.

Published yesterday 12:16
3 minute read

In our series about open, surveillance-free apps, we take a closer look at FUTO Voice Input and FUTO Keyboard – two apps that together challenge the established alternatives for voice input and keyboards on mobile devices. Most smartphone users are accustomed to dictating text using Google or using standard keyboards like Gboard or SwiftKey.

However, few consider that these popular tools often collect what you say and write privately, sending it to tech giants. The FUTO team themselves emphasize that their solution completely eliminates this problem – everything runs locally on the device without any data leaving the phone (offline with no connection requirements).

Here’s what the FUTO apps offer:

  • Privacy focus: FUTO apps run completely offline – no data is sent to the cloud.
  • Full functionality: Swipe typing, text suggestions, autocorrection, and voice-to-text with punctuation – everything works without internet connection (all keyboard functions available offline).
  • High precision: Offline dictation using advanced AI model (OpenAI Whisper) provides fast and accurate transcription (local voice recognition with high accuracy).
  • Multilingual support: Support for many languages and continuous improvements via the open-source community.

FUTO Keyboard

On the keyboard front, FUTO Keyboard impresses by delivering modern convenience without compromising privacy. Unlike conventional keyboards that constantly transmit user data, FUTO requires neither network access nor cloud services – yet it offers features on par with the best.

You can swipe words with your finger across the screen, get relevant text suggestions and automatic spell correction, and customize the theme to your liking – all while the app consistently refuses to send a single keystroke to any external server (all data stays with you). FUTO Keyboard also integrates FUTO Voice Input through a built-in microphone button, allowing ‘speech to text’ to be activated from the same interface.

FUTO Voice Input

For voice input, we have FUTO Voice Input that lets you dictate text directly in apps like messages or notes – completely without internet connection. All processing happens locally using a compact language model, meaning no audio needs to be sent away to become text. According to users who have compared it with Google’s cloud-based solution, FUTO can keep pace and even surpass it in both speed and accurate grammar.

An enthusiastic tester reported that FUTO provided a completely new experience – no delays or strange autocorrections that he previously suffered from with Gboard. This means you can safely speak freely and see the text appear almost immediately, without worrying about unauthorized “listening” on the other end.

Ongoing development and alternatives

Despite FUTO Keyboard being young, it’s already surprisingly capable. The interface feels polished and user-friendly, and the amount of features makes it almost comparable to established alternatives. Currently, text input works excellently in English, while support for smaller languages like Swedish is still being refined. However, development pace is high and the team behind FUTO has announced improvements specifically to autocorrection and expanded language support in upcoming updates. Moreover, global collaboration is encouraged: since the source code is open, engaged developers and users can contribute improvements and new language data to the project.

Among free alternatives, there’s Sayboard, an open source keyboard using Vosk for speech recognition. For pure keyboards, there’s AnySoftKeyboard and FlorisBoard, which are excellent from a privacy perspective but lack some of the advanced features that FUTO offers in one package (especially built-in voice input).

An essential part of the Matrix Phone ecosystem

FUTO Voice Input and Keyboard demonstrate that you can combine the best of both worlds: the convenience of smart text and voice functions, and the security of keeping your data private. For users of Teuton Systems’ Matrix Phone (GrapheneOS phone), these apps come pre-installed as part of the privacy-secure ecosystem. But they’re available to everyone – via Google Play or F-Droid – and constitute a highly recommended switch for anyone who values their privacy in everyday life.

As a tech writer recently put it: you no longer need to choose between functionality and security – with FUTO you get both without compromises.

Swedish government investigator sees no need for national ban on begging

Published 30 June 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Former Supreme Court Justice Krister Thelin presents the investigation report to Swedish Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer.
2 minute read

Begging has decreased, local bans are working, and a national ban is not necessary. This is claimed by Court of Appeal Judge Krister Thelin – even as he, commissioned by the government, still proposes criminalizing begging in Sweden.

On Monday, the investigation A National Ban on Begging (Ett nationellt förbud mot tiggeri) was submitted to Swedish Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (Moderate Party). Since fall 2024, Thelin has been tasked with evaluating existing regulations and developing possible approaches for a general ban.

However, his own conclusion is clear: he sees no need for a Swedish begging ban today.

– This is partly because the extent of begging looks different than it did ten years ago. With cash being used less frequently, it’s no longer profitable for vulnerable groups who often came to Sweden in organized forms, Thelin said at a press conference on Monday.

Thelin also points out that current legislation provides municipalities with sufficient tools. Several municipalities, including Vellinge, Staffanstorp, and Katrineholm in Sweden, have already implemented local bans on begging in certain areas under the Public Order Act. According to the investigator, this system works well.

Despite this, the investigation includes two concrete legislative proposals to criminalize begging – in line with the government’s directives.

Government’s view is divided

The main proposal in the investigation is to criminalize begging through an amendment to Chapter 16 of the Swedish Criminal Code. According to the proposal, those who beg for their own or their family’s subsistence could be fined. The law change is proposed to take effect on July 1, 2026.

As an alternative, it is proposed to introduce a new provision in the Public Order Act instead. The difference between the two solutions is that the Criminal Code regulates what is legally defined as public space, while the Public Order Act applies to public places.

– The directives were so clever that they say regardless of what I think about introducing a begging ban or not, I should come up with a proposal in that direction.

The issue of a national begging ban has long been politically sensitive in Sweden. It has been a signature issue for the Sweden Democrats (SD) and was included as an election promise in the 2022 election. The Tidö Agreement, signed between SD and the government parties, stipulates that the issue should be investigated – but not that a ban should automatically be implemented.

The government parties are divided on the issue. The Moderate Party shares SD’s position and wants to see a national ban. However, the Christian Democrats are more hesitant, and the Liberal Party has clearly opposed criminalization.

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