Great news for those of you already experiencing subscription fatigue: you can subscribe to buy now, pay later (BNPL) service Klarna for $7.99 a month.
Technology
Klarna will now let you pay them so you can pay them less money
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24511279/STK417_H_Herrera_Money_01.jpg?ssl=1 "Klarna will now let you pay them so you can pay them less money")
At first glance, this seemed pretty fucking weird to me. I mean, the entire point of Klarna is that you can essentially do layaway without paying any kind of interest; Klarna has partnered with a wide array of retailers — from Dolce & Gabbana to 1-800-Flowers.com to Macy’s — to create this service. So what’s the consumer value in the subscription?
The subtext of the announcement is, “Hey look, another revenue stream!”
Well, let’s say you shop at, I dunno, Target or Kroger or Safeway. These retailers aren’t affiliated with Klarna, so if you try to use the service there, you have to pay a transaction fee of up to $2. “The main proposition of Klarna Plus right now is that you don’t pay any service fees,” David Sandstrom, the chief marketing officer of Klarna, told CNBC. “So if you love Klarna and if you love shopping at Target and Walmart, it makes a ton of sense financially.”
I am somewhat less sure about that, but we’ll come back to my doubts in a minute. What I do feel sure of is that this is Klarna attempting to goose its rumored IPO. The subtext of the announcement is, “Hey look, another revenue stream!” After all, Klarna’s valuation dropped to almost $8 billion from about $46 billion last year, which, ouch. As a result, Klarna has become the poster child of overly exuberant investments in fintech, according to no less of an authority than the Financial Times.
At the risk of sounding like a dang broken record: this is, of course, related to interest rates. For most of Klarna’s history — the company launched in 2005 — interest rates have been pretty close to zero. Easy credit was everywhere! But rising interest rates might make more people default on their payments.
Klarna offers several ways to split payments. First, paying in four installments with 25 percent down upfront. Second, paying over the course of 30 days. Third, short-term loans, with an APR of as high as, uhhhh, 33.99 percent.
When Klarna started trying to grow its presence in the US market, it began a long string of quarterly losses
Now, to be clear, part of Klarna’s model is that some people won’t pay on time. That means late fees — $7 per missed payment — and eventually, debt collection. About a quarter of BNPL users in the UK have been charged these fees in the last six months of 2023, and younger consumers were more likely to get stuck with them. Some people also took a hit on their credit score or were contacted by debt collectors.
Part of Klarna’s value proposition is that it doesn’t require a credit check. So if your credit is bad, you can still use it. The problem here, of course, is that if you do pay your loan off on time, your credit score doesn’t improve. But it can be harmed if you miss payments.
I am going to leave aside the question of whether BNPL broadly is bad for society. (There is a strong argument to be made that it is, in fact, good.) I want to focus on Klarna, which was profitable from its founding until 2018, Fortune reported. But when the company started trying to grow its presence in the US market, it began a long string of quarterly losses, starting in 2019, that only ended last year.
So between the new interest rate environment and the new investor focus on profitability, Klarna has some incentives to offer new products that will make its IPO juicy. From an investor’s perspective, the subscription plan means recurring revenue, which is good, and a new revenue stream, which is also good. And in case you were curious about who that press release is really for, Klarna makes sure to note it’s sprinkled some AI on its business.
I wonder whether Klarna Plus is a good deal for consumers
But I wonder whether Klarna Plus is a good deal for consumers. Klarna’s press release says that the subscription will save people… $12 a month on fees.
The press release also says that users will get exclusive deals worth up to $30 a month. I find this somewhat befuddling: if you’re in a financial position where saving $12 a month is important, why would you want to be encouraged to spend more money with “exclusive deals”? Remember, Klarna’s value proposition to the businesses it courts is that it encourages people to spend more money. “Businesses of all sizes grow with Klarna,” its website says. “Turn our high-intent shoppers into loyal customers with performance-driven marketing solutions.” It promises “up to 70% increase in revenue” to businesses that use Klarna to deliver “shoppable content that sells.” Hmm!
The UK survey suggests most Klarna users pay off their debt without incurring fees. For Klarna, the most valuable customers are those who are likely to incur late fees. And the examples marketing officer Sandstrom uses are telling: Walmart, Target, Amazon, Costco. You know, the big box retailers where people buy ordinary staples — which suggests the model targets people who are having difficulty with increases in the cost of living.
If those people are successfully paying off their debt, Klarna gets the subscription fee. I don’t see anything in Klarna’s press release about saving on late fees with Klarna Plus. So if you don’t pay off your loan, you’re paying the subscription fee and the late fees.
Anyway, Klarna’s promising to launch more features soon, such as a high-yield savings account, its marketing officer told CNBC. Given Klarna’s IPO plans, I expect those features will be highly appealing to potential investors. But will they be good for Klarna’s customers?
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Technology
Discord accidentally banned over 8,000 people for posting grids and other ‘benign’ images
Stanislav Vishnevskiy, Discord co-founder and chief technology officer, writes that the bug impacted around 200 users who posted “grid-like” pictures, in addition to about 8,000 people who posted “other benign images” since May 2026. “Everyone affected has now been unbanned,” Vishnevskiy says.
In a thread on X, Discord writes that its safety system is designed to flag content by “matching it against known harmful material.” This system can produce “false positives,” Discord explains, which is when an employee would step in to review the flagged content. But instead of just temporarily preventing the account from uploading content during the review, a glitch led its system to ban users entirely.
“When our staff reviewed and cleared those accounts, the same bug prevented the ban from being lifted automatically, so it just stayed in place,” Discord says.
If your Prime Day purchases included a new desk, TV stand, bookshelf, or other furniture you still haven’t assembled, Hoto’s PixelDrive cordless screwdriver can help speed up the process. It’s currently on sale for $59.99 ($20 off) at Amazon, matching its best price to date.
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Hoto also added several features that make assembling projects a little easier. A built-in display lets you quickly check your current torque setting and remaining battery life, while an integrated LED light helps illuminate dim spaces, whether you’re working under a desk or inside a cabinet. The rechargeable 2,000mAh battery also charges over USB-C, so you won’t need to keep buying disposable batteries.
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Those little white robots that once rolled across college sidewalks with lattes, fries and late-night snacks are getting a new assignment. Starship Technologies recently announced that it will wind down its U.S. university campus operations and redeploy more than 1,200 robots toward grocery chains and hot food delivery in cities across the United States and Europe.
If you have ever watched one of these robots patiently wait at a crosswalk like a polite cooler on wheels, you know why students got attached. They became part campus convenience, part mascot. Now, the company is moving from a controlled campus setting into a much tougher public test.
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That raises the bigger question: will these cute campus robots be just as welcome when they start sharing crowded city sidewalks with you?
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Starship is winding down U.S. campus robot operations as it expands grocery delivery in the U.S. and Europe. (Starship)
Why Starship is pulling robots from college campuses
Starship says the decision comes down to focus. The company says its grocery delivery operations are on a 10x growth trajectory over the next two years, driven by demand from major retailers in the United States and Europe.
In Finland, Starship says its robots already complete roughly one in five grocery deliveries. That gives the company a real-world model it wants to repeat elsewhere. To support that expansion, more than 1,200 robots from U.S. campus fleets will be moved into grocery delivery. For Starship, that is a major pivot. Campuses helped the company build its brand in the U.S. They also gave the robots a place to learn.
Why college campuses were the perfect robot testing ground
Starship made a big U.S. splash at George Mason University in 2019, when the school became the first U.S. university to offer autonomous robot deliveries from Starship. From there, the robots spread to dozens of campuses. That made sense. College students are often hungry at odd hours. Many live without a full kitchen. They also tend to be open to new tech, especially when it brings food to the dorm without small talk.
During the pandemic, contactless delivery became even more appealing. A robot that could roll up with lunch while limiting person-to-person contact suddenly felt useful in a very different way.
The campus pullback will not happen overnight
Starship says it has worked with its university campuses and industry partners to keep service running through the 2026–2027 back-to-school season, with transition plans in place to reduce disruption. So, this does not appear to be an instant shutdown where every campus robot disappears at once. Instead, the company is moving away from the university model while preparing its fleet for a bigger push into grocery and restaurant delivery.
For students who loved the bots, it may still feel like the end of an era. For Starship, though, it is a move toward the market where the company believes the economics are stronger. Starship CEO and co-founder Ahti Heinla says the company’s robots can deliver groceries at a cost $3-$4 lower per delivery than traditional courier fulfillment. That is the kind of claim that gets the attention of retailers trying to make last-mile delivery less expensive.
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Why city sidewalks could be a tougher test
The next phase could get messy. Delivery robots have to share sidewalks with people who are walking, pushing strollers, using wheelchairs, carrying groceries or trying to catch a bus. That means every design choice matters. A robot that blocks a curb ramp can create a real problem. A robot that pauses in the wrong spot can turn from cute to irritating fast. If one reverses unexpectedly or gets stuck near a crosswalk, the novelty wears off even faster.
There have already been warning signs. Reports have described delivery robots bumping into people, getting stuck in odd places and raising accessibility concerns. Chicago has also seen local pushback and safety concerns around sidewalk delivery robots, which shows Starship still has work to do if it wants city residents to embrace them. That is the challenge Starship now faces. The same robot that felt charming on a campus may feel like clutter on a narrow sidewalk.
Starship Technologies is shifting more than 1,200 campus delivery robots to grocery and restaurant deliveries in cities. (Starship)
What grocery delivery changes
Grocery delivery is a different business from campus food delivery. A college order might be a sandwich, a soda or a late-night snack. A grocery run can involve heavier items, more frequent routes and customers who expect reliability every time. If Starship can make that work, the payoff could be huge. Grocery stores want cheaper local delivery. Customers want speed without sky-high fees. Cities want fewer cars clogging short delivery routes.
Starship says the global food delivery market is now worth $650 billion and needs delivery systems with higher autonomy levels. The company also says it has completed more than 10 million deliveries, which gives it a sizable head start in the sidewalk robot category.
However, the public will need convincing. People may welcome a robot bringing milk and eggs on a rainy night. They may also get annoyed if that same robot blocks a sidewalk during the morning rush. That will all decide whether sidewalk robots become normal or face more local limits.
Why Estonia still matters to Starship
Starship was founded in Tallinn, Estonia, in 2014 by Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis. Estonia remains home to the company’s core engineering and AI development team. That is important because this shift is not only about where the robots operate.
The big question for robot delivery
Starship’s move shows where the delivery robot business is headed. College campuses helped make the robots likable. Grocery delivery may determine whether they become profitable. Still, the sidewalks belong to the public. That means companies need more than clever machines. They need trust, clear rules and designs that respect people who move through cities in different ways.
A delivery robot should never make a sidewalk harder to use for someone with a cane, stroller or wheelchair. It should not turn public space into an obstacle course. If companies want these robots to feel normal, they need to prove they can operate without making daily life more frustrating.
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Starship says grocery delivery demand is pushing its robot fleet from college campuses into urban neighborhoods. (Starship)
What this means to you
You may start seeing more delivery robots near grocery stores, restaurants and apartment-heavy neighborhoods. If that happens, pay attention to how they behave in your area. Look for whether they yield to pedestrians, avoid curb ramps and handle crowded sidewalks well. Also, check whether your city has rules for personal delivery devices. Some places allow pilot programs, while others limit where these robots can operate.
If a robot causes a problem, document it safely. Take a photo or video, note the location and report it to your city or the delivery company. That is important because local officials need real examples, not vague frustration, when they decide what rules should apply. There is also a privacy angle. These robots use sensors and cameras to navigate. Companies may say the data supports safe operation, but you still deserve clear answers about what gets collected, how long it is kept and whether law enforcement can request it.
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Kurt’s key takeaways
Starship’s campus exit feels like the end of a quirky era, especially for students who got used to seeing the little robots rolling around campus. But this shift also tells us something bigger about where autonomous delivery is going. The next battle will happen on city sidewalks, not college campuses. If these robots save money and reduce short car trips, they could become very useful. But if they crowd walkways or create safety headaches, people will push back hard. To me, the real test is pretty clear. Robot delivery needs to work for everyone on the sidewalk, including people who never ordered anything.
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Would you be ok with a delivery robot on your block, or would you rather keep your sidewalks robot-free? Let us know by writing to us at CyberGuy.com.
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