Luis von Ahn

Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn claims his 'AI-first company' memo was misunderstood externally and reiterates the company has not laid off full-time employees despite contractor workforce fluctuations.

“Duolingo CEO clarifies that his 'AI-first company' memo was misunderstood and defends the company's AI strategy and employment practices.”

Duolingo's AI-first strategy sparked public backlash, prompting the company to scale back social media presence, which slowed user growth to 40% but financial results remained strong with Q2 revenue up 41% to $252.3 million.

“CEO who issued April memo on making company 'AI-first' and acknowledged backlash; stated viral posts will return but team being cautious”

“Co-founder of Duolingo stating that AI has fundamentally changed what's possible; the company increased course output 10x in two years using AI.”

“CEO announced the AI-first strategy in an internal memo and shareholder letter, comparing it to the 2012 mobile-first pivot and explaining the company's strategic shift toward AI-powered content creation.”

“Co-Founder and CEO of Duolingo who reported surpassing 50 million daily active users and $1 billion in bookings, and discussed prioritizing user growth and teaching effectiveness through AI in 2026.”

Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn revealed the company curtailed edgy social media posts after backlash over his AI-first memo, which impacted daily active user growth to the lower end of forecasts despite 41% revenue growth.

“Outlined mandatory AI usage policy for hiring and performance reviews, later curbed edgy social media posts after backlash.”