Duolingo CEO says AI-first memo was taken out of context

Duolingo’s top executive says the furor over the company’s move to become “AI-first” came down to missing context, not a shift toward replacing people.

After a wave of criticism earlier this year, CEO Luis von Ahn said the initiative wasn’t contentious inside the organization. Outside the company, however, he believes some observers assumed the pivot was purely profit-driven or a signal that human roles would be cut — a reading he says doesn’t reflect the plan.

Von Ahn emphasized that the company has not laid off any full-time employees and has no plans to do so. He acknowledged changes to contractor headcount but framed those shifts as long-standing, fluctuating with project needs rather than a new policy tied to AI.

Despite the pushback — which he suggested hasn’t hurt business performance — the company remains optimistic about what AI can bring to its products. Teams reserve Friday mornings to experiment with new tools and workflows and to share learnings across the organization.

It’s a tongue-twister of a nickname — “FrAI-days,” as he put it — and even he isn’t sure how to pronounce it.