Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn pushes back on AI backlash
Duolingo is facing criticism after CEO Luis von Ahn called the company “AI-first.” He now says he didn’t provide enough context.
The issue started with fears Duolingo would cut full-time staff or just chase profits. 
Soon after, von Ahn told The New York Times that internally the AI pivot wasn’t controversial. Public concerns about layoffs or profit-first motives missed the mark.
He confirmed Duolingo hasn’t laid off any full-time employees and has no plans to do so. However, he did acknowledge cuts to contractors but framed that as part of normal fluctuations.
Von Ahn remains bullish on AI’s future. Duolingo team members dedicate Friday mornings to testing new tech, humorously calling it “f-r-AI-days.”
Luis von Ahn stated:
“Internally, this was not controversial,” von Ahn told The New York Times
“Externally, as a publicly traded company some people assume that it’s just for profit. Or that we’re trying to lay off humans. And that was not the intent at all.”
On the contrary, von Ahn said the company has “never laid off any full-time employees” and has no intention of doing so. And while he didn’t deny that Duolingo had cut its contractor workforce, he suggested that “from the beginning … our contractor workforce has gone up and down depending on needs.”
“It’s a bad acronym, f-r-A-I-days,” he said. “I don’t know how to pronounce it.”
