Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn has defended his company’s controversial “AI-first” strategy, saying the backlash earlier this year was based on misunderstanding rather than actual plans to replace human workers.

Von Ahn faced sharp criticism after telling investors that Duolingo would become an “AI-first company.”

Many assumed the move was motivated by profit or that it would lead to widespread layoffs of human staff.

“In reality, 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.”

Duolingo insists no layoffs planned

The CEO emphasised that Duolingo has “never laid off any full-time employees” and has no intention of doing so.

He acknowledged that contractor roles have fluctuated but argued that this has always been tied to business needs rather than AI adoption.

Embracing AI through experimentation

Despite the criticism, von Ahn remains optimistic about AI’s role in Duolingo’s future. Employees are encouraged to explore the technology regularly, with every Friday morning dedicated to AI experiments.

“It’s a bad acronym, f-r-A-I-days,” he joked. “I don’t know how to pronounce it.”