--- title: "CEO Who Bragged About Replacing Human Workers With AI Realizes He Made a Terrible Mistake" description: "Swedish buy-now-pay-later company Klarna, whose CEO once bragged about replacing workers with AI, is now in deep trouble." date: "2025-05-21" modified: "2025-05-21" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/klarna-ceo-bragged-replacing-workers-ai-losses" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Future Society" tags: - "ai automation" - "artificial intelligence" - "klarna" - "the digest" --- # CEO Who Bragged About Replacing Human Workers With AI Realizes He Made a Terrible Mistake ![Swedish buy-now-pay-later company Klarna, whose CEO once bragged about replacing workers with AI, is now in deep trouble.]() *\Image: Noam Galai/Getty Images for TechCrunch/Futurism\* ## Do No Klarn Swedish buy-now-pay-later company Klarna, whose CEO once bragged about its automated [customer service AI bots]() doing the work of "700 full-time agents," is now in deep trouble. The fintech outfit is facing net losses of $99 million for the first quarter of this year, [*CNBC* reports](), which is more than double compared to the same period last year. The company had already [paused]() its highly anticipated IPO in the US last month, which once valued it at over $15 billion. And it's all particularly noteworthy because of how CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski [previously bragged]() that he hadn't hired anyone in a year, following a doubling down on AI tech. During an [interview with *Bloomberg*]() earlier this month, however, Siemiatkowski struck a dramatically different tone, revealing that the gambit hadn't paid off. He admitted that "there will always be a human if you want" when it comes to customer service — a sign of the times, as investors are starting to ask some tough questions given widespread economic uncertainty. ## Cash Flow Nonetheless, it wasn't a complete reversal. Siemiatkowski [defended his embrace of AI last week](), boasting that the tech allowed Klarna to shrink its workforce by 40 percent. During its Monday earnings call, an AI-generated avatar of Siemiatkowski took over for the executive, the [*Financial Times* reports](), showing that the company is far from giving up on the tech. But public support for the tech is unmistakably falling off. Language learning company Duolingo has [faced a torrent of pushback]() from social media users, particularly on TikTok, after its controversial CEO Luis von Ahn announced that [AI will gradually replace all contractors](). However, while it could be easy to see Klarna as the canary in the coal mine for the AI industry as a whole, its rapidly mounting losses involve other factors as well. As the *FT* points out, many of the company's American customers are failing to repay their buy-now-pay-later loans. Klarna's credit losses have risen 17 percent year-on-year to $136 million, reflecting widespread economic uncertainty and falling consumer confidence as president Donald Trump's trade war takes its toll. In response, Klarna has said that it's "closely monitoring changes in the macroeconomic environment" and "remains well-positioned to adapt swiftly if required." **More on Klarna:** *[Company Regrets Replacing All Those Pesky Human Workers With AI, Just Wants Its Humans Back]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()