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Company Regrets Replacing All Those Pesky Human Workers With AI, Just Wants Its Humans Back

Years after outsourcing marketing and customer service gigs to AI, the Swedish company Klarna is looking to hire its humans back.

Two years after partnering with OpenAI to automate marketing and customer service jobs, financial tech startup Klarna says it’s longing for human connection again.

Once gunning to be OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s “favorite guinea pig,” Klarna is now plotting a big recruitment drive after its AI customer service agents couldn’t quite hack it.

The buy-now-pay-later company had previously shredded its marketing contracts in 2023, followed by its customer service team in 2024, which it proudly began replacing with AI agents. Now, the company says it imagines an “Uber-type of setup” to fill their ranks, with gig workers logging in remotely to argue with customers from the comfort of their own homes.

“From a brand perspective, a company perspective, I just think it’s so critical that you are clear to your customer that there will be always a human if you want,” admitted Sebastian Siemiatkowski, the Swedish fintech’s CEO.

That’s a pretty big shift from his comments in December of 2024, when he told Bloomberg he was “of the opinion that AI can already do all of the jobs that we, as humans, do.” A year before that, Klarna had stopped hiring humans altogether, reducing its workforce by 22 percent.

A few months after freezing new hires, Klarna bragged that it saved $10 million on marketing costs by outsourcing tasks like translation, art production, and data analysis to generative AI. It likewise claimed that its automated customer service agents could do the work of “700 full-time agents.”

So why the sudden about-face? As it turns out, leaving your already-frustrated customers to deal with a slop-spinning algorithm isn’t exactly best practice.

As Siemiatkowski told Bloomberg, “cost unfortunately seems to have been a too predominant evaluation factor when organizing this, what you end up having is lower quality.”

Klarna isn’t alone. Though executives in every industry, from news media to fast food, seem to think AI is ready for the hot seat — an attitude that’s more grounded in investor relations than an honest assessment of the tech — there are growing signs that robot chickens are coming home to roost.

In January of last year, a survey of over 1,400 business executives found that 66 percent were “ambivalent or outright dissatisfied with their organization’s progress on AI and GenAI so far.” The top issue corporate bosses cited was AI’s “lack of talent and skills.”

It’s a problem that evidently hasn’t improved over the year. Another survey recently found that over 55 percent of UK business leaders who rushed to replace jobs with AI now regret their decision.

It’s not hard to see why. An experiment carried out by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University stuffed a fake software company full of AI employees, and their performance was laughably bad — the best AI worker finished just 24 percent of the tasks assigned to it.

When it comes to the question of whether AI will take jobs, there seem to be as many answers as there are CEOs excited to save a buck.

There are gray areas, to be sure — AI is certainly helping corporations speed up low-wage outsourcing, and the tech is having a verifiable effect on labor market volatility — just don’t count on CEOs to have much patience as AI starts to chomp at their bottom line.

More on AI: Dystopia Intensifies as Startup Lets You Take Out a Micro-Loan to Get Fast Food

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Insomniac Launches New Streaming App With Exclusive Live Sets and DJ Radio Shows

Bringing the mainstage action to mobile screens globally, Insomniac has officially launched its Insomniac Radio app, a free 24/7 streaming platform. The app offers wall-to-wall coverage of all things EDM, including exclusive artist shows and live broadcasts from some of the world’s biggest festivals.

Landing just ahead of EDC Las Vegas 2025, Insomniac Radio aims to deliver an always-on soundtrack to the global dance music community. With no subscription fees and no barriers to entry, the app is poised to replicate the euphoric energy of Insomniac’s festivals with four curated genre channels: “ONE,” “ANALOG,” “IMPACT” and “LUCID.”

Whether it’s the booming anthems of kineticFIELD or the entrancing grooves of Factory 93, the platform is rooted in Insomniac’s sprawling event universe. Channel-to-stage pairings will bring real-time soundtracks to fans around the world: “ONE” features mainstage-ready heat from the likes of cosmicMEADOW and circuitGROUNDS, “ANALOG” dials into house and techno from stereoBLOOM, “IMPACT” blasts bass from wasteLAND and “LUCID” floats through trance and melodic techno straight from quantumVALLEY.

Beyond the music, the app boasts over 120 weekly shows, many led by the world’s biggest DJs including featured hosts Amelie Lens, Martin Garrix, ILLENIUM, Purple Disco Machine, Hardwell, John Summit and Zeds Dead, to name a few. 

As fans plan their descent on Las Vegas for EDC from May 16-18, the app will go into overdrive as Insomniac Radio streams curated programming from a number of stages that will not be represented on the live feed, including stereoBLOOM wasteLAND and quantumVALLEY.

For more information and scheduled programming, download the new Insomniac Radio app here.

Follow EDC Las Vegas:

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14% Say EDM is Their “Go-To Genre” When Feeling Depressed, Study Suggests

Electronic dance music is emerging as a lifeline for Americans battling depression, suggests a new study shared with EDM.com by healthcare technology company Tebra.

The research, which surveyed 1,000 Americans and analyzed over 110,000 tracks from mental health-themed Spotify playlists, found that 14% of respondents turn to EDM as their “go-to genre” when feeling depressed. Arriving during Mental Health Awareness Month, the data expands on a similar study in late-2024, further positioning the genre as a noteworthy player in the budding music therapy market.

Those who listen to electronic music know that its magic lies in its ability to uplift. The edge-of-your-seat builds, euphoric drops and deep valleys can feel like a hug from a crowd you’ve never met. Think of Avicii’s “Wake Me Up,” Calvin Harris’ “Feel So Close” or Daft Punk’s “Lose Yourself to Dance,” all of which speak to the genre’s accessible, escapist nature.

Those three artists were the most sought-after in the electronic music category. Metal fans leaned hardest into music as therapy (59%) but reported worse mental health (47%), framing EDM as a compelling contrast by offering a respite that’s less about purging pain and more about chasing light.

Elsewhere in the study, an overwhelming 92% of respondents said music has “helped them through tough times,” especially anxiety (55%), loneliness (52%) and depression (47%). Just over half said they turned to music instead of “traditional therapy” while 57% believed it was just as impactful.

You can read Tebra’s full report here.

EDC Expanding to Colombia With Medellín Festival in 2026

EDC, one of the world’s most prominent EDM festivals, will launch in Colombia in October 2026, its organizer Insomniac Events announced today.

Transforming Medellín’s Unidad Deportiva Atanasio Girardot sports complex, the festival is primed to continue EDC’s global growth following successful editions across Asia, Europe and the Americas. The city offers what Insomniac founder and CEO Pasquale Rotella described as the perfect backdrop for EDC’s blend of dance music, art and community engagement.

“We’re committed to growing this global community and sharing the magic of EDC with the world,” Rotella said in a statement. “Choosing a new location for EDC is never random. It comes down to a few key factors. First, we look for a local partner who shares our values, understands the spirit of EDC, and has the vision and dedication to help bring it to life.”

The inaugural EDC Colombia represents a partnership between Insomniac and Páramo Presenta, part of Latin American entertainment powerhouse OCESA. The company, with whom Insomniac has long collaborated to produce EDC Mexico, is “an incredible team that fits that perfectly,” Rotella said.

“We are very proud to bring to Colombia such a major brand with so much history, and one that has been fundamental to the growth of electronic dance music worldwide, like EDC,” added Páramo Presenta’s Santiago Vélez. “Medellín will become the center of the electronic world in October 2026, and we hope to reveal more details soon about this festival that is returning to South America.”

The festival will feature “a massive lineup of world-renowned electronic artists” as well as multiple stage designs, large-scale art installations and carnival rides while incorporating local cultural influences, according to a press release shared with EDM.com.

Additional details, including lineup, dates and ticketing information will be announced in the months ahead. Fans can register for updates on the festival via its official website.

Wilco Celebrates Mother’s Day in Chattanooga, Tennessee

Wilco (Credit: Peter Crosby)

After more than 30 years together, Wilco still puts on a hell of a live show. 

Waxahatchee opened the concert with a full backing band, including Jeff Tweedy’s son, Spencer, on drums. Her 45-minute set included songs from her last two studio albums, Saint Cloud and Tiger’s Blood, though she did throw in her newest single, “Mud,” which was released in March. 

More from Spin:

Wilco took the stage around 8:45 p.m. — Jeff Tweedy casually waving to the crowd, wearing a bright red button-down shirt, dark jeans, and a denim jacket. They launched into “Spider (Kidsmoke)” and then “Wishful Thinking,” from the band’s 2004 Grammy winning A Ghost Is Born. 

The band played some newer songs, such as “Evicted” from 2023’s Cousins and “Bird Without a Tail/Base of My Skull” off of 2022’s Cruel Country. But they knew everyone was there to see Wilco play their classic, older stuff, which Tweedy acknowledged as he nonchalantly introduced the more recent material. And they didn’t disappoint, blazing through “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart,” “War On War,” and “Jesus, Etc.,” balancing the old with the new. 

(Credit: Akash Wadhwani)
(Credit: Akash Wadhwani)

One of the highlights of the show was guitarist Nels Cline, fresh from an afternoon side gig at the local community performing arts theater Barking Legs, ripping through “Impossible Germany.” 

Being Mother’s Day, Tweedy dedicated “I’m My Mother,” from Cruel Country, to all of the moms in the audience, and to those who were missing theirs. “I miss mine,” he said. 

The theme of the night seemed to revolve around the passage of time. Before they played the next two songs—“Box Full of Letters,” from the group’s first album, 1995’s A.M., and “Annihilation,” from their 2024 EP Hot Sun Cool Shroud — Tweedy told the audience that they had been playing them together lately to show their artistic growth over the years. “The capo goes from here to here. The Beatles didn’t do that,” he said, referring to the small device on the fretboard of a guitar that changes the pitch of the instrument.

Tweedy, noting how nice it was to be back in Chattanooga, shared a story about passing through on a family road trip to Florida when he was 8 or 9 and visiting one of the city’s most famous tourist attractions, Lookout Mountain. “I don’t remember Florida, but I remember Chattanooga.” 

(Credit: Peter Crosby)
(Credit: Peter Crosby)

Throughout the show, Tweedy took note of how far along we were in the evening. “We’re getting close to the end,” he said. The audience, unhappy with that, heartily booed, to which he responded, “I mean in general.” 

When the lights did go down and the band waved goodbye, we knew there would be an encore. They reemerged to play four songs, starting with “California Stars” from their 2001 collaboration with Billy Bragg, Mermaid Avenue. Ensuring everyone that the show was finally over this time, Tweedy announced, “Okay this is it!” and ended with the rousing “I Got You (At the End of the Century)” from Being There. An appropriate choice, reinforcing the idea that the older we get, the more we should take stock of how far we’ve come. 

To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.

Why Elon Musk Is Furious and Publicly Raging at His Own AI Chatbot, Grok

Elon Musk is mad that his AI chatbot, Grok, referred to The Atlantic and The BBC as credible news sources.

Elon Musk’s AI chatbot, Grok, thinks that The Atlantic and The BBC are credible, reputable sources for news and information. Which is funny, because Musk — who’s engaged in a years-long project to erode trust in legacy media organizations and even specific journalists — doesn’t. And now, he’s furious at his own AI chatbot.

The Musk-Grok tiff happened over the weekend, when a misinformation-spreading X-formerly-Twitter user @amuse posted an “article” about billionaire bogeymen (like George and Alex Soros, Bill Gates, and the philanthropic Ford Foundation) using deep pockets to “hijack federal grants” by “seeding” nongovernmental organizations with left-wing ideology.

As opposed to a thoughtful or reported analysis of how cash from wealthy donors has transformed American politics, the article was a deeply partisan, conspiracy-riddled account smattered with scary-sounding buzzwords, “DEI” ranting, and no foundational evidence to back its conspiratorial claims (with little mention of high-powered and heavily funded conservative non-profit groups, either).

It seems that Grok, the chatbot created and operated by the Musk-owned AI company xAI, had some issues with the @amuse post, too.

When an X user asked Grok to analyze the post, the AI rejected its core premise, arguing that there’s “no evidence” that Soros, Gates, and the Ford Foundation “hijack federal grants or engage in illegal influence peddling.” In other words, it said that the world as described in the @amuse post doesn’t exist.

The user — amid accusations that Grok has been trained on “woke” data — then asked Grok to explain what “verified” sources it pulled from to come to that conclusion. Grok explained that it used “foundation websites and reputable news outlets,” naming The Atlantic and the BBC, which it said are “credible” and “backed by independent audits and editorial standards.” It also mentioned denials from Soros-led foundations.

“No evidence shows the Gates, Soros, or Ford Foundations hijacking grants; they operate legally with private funds,” said Grok. “However, their support for progressive causes raises transparency concerns, fueling debate. Critics question their influence, while supporters highlight societal benefits. Verification comes from audits and public records, but skepticism persists in polarized discussions.”

This response, apparently, ticked off Musk.

“This is embarrassing,” the world’s richest man responded to his own chatbot. Which, at this rate, might prove to be his Frankenstein.

It’s unclear whether Musk was specifically mad about the characterization of news outlets or claims by Soros-founded organizations as reliable, but we’d go out on a limb to venture the answer is both.

By no means should the world be handing their media literacy over to quick reads by Grok, or any other chatbot. Chatbots get things wrong — they even make up sources — and users need to employ their own discretion, judgment, and reasoning skills while engaging with them. (Interestingly, @amuse stepped in at one point to claim that Grok had given him a figure to use that the chatbot said was inaccurate in a later post.)

But this interaction does highlight the increasing politicization of chatbots, a debate at which Grok has been very much at the center. While there’s a ton of excellent, measured journalism out there, we’re existing in a deeply partisan attention and information climate in which people can — and very much do — seek out information that fuels and supports their personal biases.

In today’s information landscape, conclusion-shopping is easy — and when chatbots fail to scratch that itch, people get upset. Including, it seems, the richest man on Earth, who’s been DIY-ing his preferred reality for a while now.

More on Grok rage: MAGA Angry as Elon Musk’s Grok AI Keeps Explaining Why Their Beliefs Are Factually Incorrect

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