Klarna’s CEO Makes use of an AI Clone to Ship Earnings

Purchase now, pay later providers firm Klarna mentioned it used an AI doppelganger of CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski to report its quarterly earnings on Monday.

The AI avatar appeared in a video on Klarna’s official YouTube channel to ship earnings highlights. It wore a brown jacket paying homage to one in Siemiatkowski’s company headshots, and other than an absence of blinking and suspect lip syncing, there have been no important giveaways.

“Our AI-first technique is driving distinctive returns, we’re outpacing rivals, our service provider community is scaling quickly, and our next-gen merchandise are reshaping cash administration for tens of millions,” a presumably human Siemiatkowski mentioned in a press launch.

The transfer comes as Klarna, which final month put its IPO on ice attributable to financial uncertainty, tries to model itself as an AI firm. Within the earnings press launch, Klarna mentioned it has “streamlined” its workforce by round 40% since 2022.

In 2022, 800 workers have been fired, whereas some have been quietly supplied an exit package deal final 12 months after being positioned right into a “expertise pool.” In February 2024, Klarna introduced that its OpenAI-powered AI customer support brokers may do the equal work of 700 full-time human workers.

Klarna has not too long ago ramped up partnerships with platforms like Walmart, eBay, and DoorDash, however shopper watchdogs have lengthy been involved concerning the potential for overspending below BNPL providers. Underneath the Biden administration, the Client Monetary Safety Bureau handled BNPL suppliers as bank card lenders, which required stricter protections round disclosures and disputes. On Might 6, the CFPB mentioned in an announcement it could not implement the rule and would take into account rescinding it.

The Federal Reserve present in 2024 that customers of BNPL providers usually tend to depend on high-interest financing instruments and are extra financially fragile. LendingTree, a web based lending market, additionally present in an April survey that 41% of BNPL customers within the US paid late over the past 12 months, up from 34% a 12 months in the past.

Klarna’s newest Q1 outcomes additionally present that an growing variety of folks could not have been paying their loans. Whereas income grew 13% 12 months over 12 months and it reached 100 million lively customers, Klarna additionally doubled its web losses from $47 million in Q1 2024 to $99 million in Q1 2025 — a 110% improve.

In the course of the Might 19 earnings name, Klarna attributed the spike in losses to a number of one-off prices associated to depreciation, share-based funds, and restructuring.

Klarna’s shopper credit score losses have additionally jumped, which its Q1 monetary report mentioned is “pushed by the accelerated enlargement of Pay Later and Truthful Financing merchandise.” Klarna’s first quarter noticed a 17% year-on-year improve in credit score losses from $117 million to $136 million.

Klarna didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.