Controversial startup
Augustus Intelligence founder dies in a helicopter crash
The wreck of the helicopter that crashed in the Odenwald. Three people were killed in the accident.
© Julian Buchner / Einsatz-Report24 / DPA
The entrepreneur Wolfgang Haupt was killed in the crash of a helicopter in the Odenwald. His startup Augustus Intelligence became known through the lobbying work of the CDU politician Philipp Amthor.
The somewhat opaque startup Augustus Intelligence briefly became known through an affair in the summer of 2020. The young CDU MP Phillip Amthor had campaigned for the US company, which had granted him stock options and apparently also paid for travel. The lobby allegations damaged the politician from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the short term. Now the founder of Augustus Intelligence, the German Wolfgang Haupt, died a few days ago in a helicopter crash.
DNA comparison is still pending
“We assume that he is among the victims,” said a spokesman for the Mosbach public prosecutor’s office to the AFP news agency. The broadcaster n-tv had previously reported on the death of the 34-year-old. A final DNA comparison is apparently still pending.
As reported by n-tv, Haupt is said to have been in the helicopter with the 61-year-old boss of a waste disposal company and his 18-year-old son, who also died. The helicopter crashed on Sunday in a forest near Buchen north of Heilbronn. It started in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria.
Augustus Intelligence, where the former Defense Minister Theodor zu Guttenberg sat on the board, had filed for bankruptcy in the USA in April of this year. The startup’s field of activity was difficult to define. According to its own information, the company dealt with artificial intelligence in the field of face recognition. Meanwhile lies the company’s website also broke.
Sources: AFP, n-tv, augustusai.com