Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn faced significant criticism this year after announcing that Duolingo would become an “AI-first company.” In a recent interview, he clarified that the backlash stemmed from a lack of context rather than disagreement within the company.
“Internally, this was not controversial,” von Ahn told The New York Times. “Externally, as a publicly traded company, some people assumed it was just for profit or that we were trying to lay off humans. That was not the intent at all.”
He emphasized that Duolingo has never laid off any full-time employees and has no plans to do so. While acknowledging reductions in the contractor workforce, he noted that the number of contractors has fluctuated based on the company’s needs since the beginning.
Despite the criticism, which had little impact on Duolingo’s financial performance, von Ahn remains highly optimistic about AI’s potential. The company dedicates every Friday morning to experimenting with the technology, a practice he jokingly referred to as “f-r-A-I-days,” admitting he isn’t sure how to pronounce it.