Oop! It looks like Klarna users are buying now, but NOT paying later as the company reportedly doubles its net loss with a whopping $136 million debt. The news also arrives after Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski previously bragged about replacing his human workers with AI (artificial intelligence) technology.
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Klarna CEO Brags About Replacing Hundreds Of Human Workers With AI
In December 2024, Siemiatkowski boasted to Bloomberg that with the help of OpenAI, Klarna’s AI assistant could do the work of 700 human workers. The fintech (financial technology) founder continued to claim that he’s gotten his remaining human employees, about 200, on board with the AI pivot.
He claims he told them if they utilize AI in their work, they’ll see bumps in their paychecks for any productivity gains from implementing the advanced technology. He said:
“People internally at Klarna are just rallying to deploy as much efficiency AI as they can. We’re going to give some of the improvements that the efficiency that AI provides by increasing the pace at which the salaries of our employees increase.”
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In a new interview with Bloomberg earlier this month, Klarna’s CEO continued to double down on his AI pivot, despite the big gamble having yet to pay off. He admitted that “there will always be a human if you want” when it comes to customer service.
In another interview with CNBC last week, Siemiatkowski said with the help of AI, his company shrank its workforce by 40%. Despite cutting back on salaries, cash flow is still a huge issue.
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Klarna Reportedly Hits $136M In Debt As Consumers Fail To Pay Back Loans
The Financial Times reported that Klarna’s losses have widened as more consumers fail to repay their interest-free “Buy Now, Pay Later” loans. The publication reported that on Monday (May 19), Klarna reported a net loss of $99 million for the first quarter of this year — this is more than double compared to the same period last year, at $47 million.
Last month, Klarna hit pause on its highly-anticipated IPO in the United States — which was once valued at over $15 billion. Now, the fintech reports its customer credit losses rose 17% to $136 million.
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