Duolingo CEO says controversial AI memo was misunderstood
In Brief Posted: 9:34 AM PDT · August 17, 2025 Image Credits:Getty Images Anthony Ha Duolingo CEO says controversial AI memo was misunderstood While Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn was loudly criticized this year after declaring that Duolingo would become an “AI-first company,” he suggested in a new interview the real issue was that he “did not give enough context.” “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…
