New leads in the Palme investigation after AI-powered analysis

Nearly four decades after the assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, new leads are being made public following an AI-driven analysis of open case material. Among other findings, a previously accepted alibi is now being challenged. The results were made possible when Swedish AI infrastructure company Airon provided capacity.

“It has never been as clear as now: with the right capacity, AI can uncover patterns that would otherwise remain hidden,” says Robert Lidberg, CEO and co-founder of Airon.”

The Palme investigation remains one of the most extensive criminal inquiries in modern history. The full body of material, including witness statements, transcripts and reports, is so vast that reading it manually has been estimated to require up to nine years of full-time work.

Using AI, a group of independent researchers have processed and cross-referenced large volumes of archived Palme case material and decoding documents for six years. The analysis required dedicated high-performance computing provided by AI infrastructure company Airon, and the findings are being made public today in a new documentary series.

“This proves you don't need a massive team to do massive things anymore. You need the right people, the right tools, and the AI infrastructure to support them,” says Robert Lidberg.

Previously accepted alibi questioned
Among the findings is the dismissal of an accepted alibi provided by a person of interest, often referred to as the “Lieutenant X.” While he had stated that he was outside Stockholm on the night of the assassination, the new AI analysis indicates that he may in fact have been in the city.

The review also points to potential links to a military extremist network, including individuals connected to paratrooper units, and suggests that several people with backgrounds in law enforcement may have coordinated to uphold the alibi, with some of them still alive today.

"AI brings new capabilities, like decoding previously redacted documents, building detailed timelines and large graph networks, to draw conclusions out of complex large datasets," says Robert Lidberg, CEO and co-founder of Airon. “This demonstrates the significant potential of AI not only for historical investigations, but also for journalism, research, and other critical areas of society. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time this level of dedicated AI computing capacity has been applied to an investigative analysis of this complexity.”

For Swedish version, see attachments.