The Backlash Against Duolingo Going ‘AI-First’ Didn’t Even Matter
Duolingo, the widely recognized language learning platform, has reported exceeding its quarterly revenue estimates, marking a significant financial milestone despite facing considerable public backlash. The company’s aggressive adoption of generative AI and its subsequent pivot to an ‘AI-first’ strategy, which includes a reduction in contract workers, has been met with criticism. Nevertheless, Duolingo’s financial performance indicates the strategic shift is yielding positive results, evidenced by an approximate 30% surge in its stock value following the announcement.
In April, Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn revealed the company’s ambitious trajectory, declaring its intention to become an “AI-first” organization. This strategic move involves minimizing reliance on contract workers and discouraging the hiring of new employees unless their responsibilities cannot be automated. Von Ahn highlighted the pivotal role of AI in accelerating content development, stating, “Without AI, it would take us decades to scale our content to more learners. We owe it to our learners to get them this content ASAP.” This AI integration has already enabled Duolingo to launch 148 new language courses, effectively more than doubling its previous course offerings.
While a segment of Duolingo’s user base has voiced concerns that the new AI features may be compromising the app’s user experience, the company’s financial indicators tell a different story. Duolingo now anticipates surpassing $1 billion in revenue for the current year. Furthermore, the platform has experienced a substantial 40% year-over-year growth in daily active users.
During a recent quarterly earnings call, an investor pointed out that this growth, while impressive, landed towards the lower end of the company’s projected growth range of 40% to 45%. Von Ahn acknowledged that earlier communications regarding AI had inadvertently sparked social media backlash, affecting user sentiment. “The reason we came [in] towards the lower end was because I said some stuff about AI, and I didn’t give enough context. Because of that, we got some backlash on social media,” he explained. He also noted that the company subsequently adjusted its social media strategy to focus on more positive content, a tactic that has successfully improved sentiment.
On platforms like TikTok, critical comments regarding the company’s AI approach frequently appear in video comment sections. Users often question if videos featuring multiple individuals are AI-generated, to which Duolingo’s team responds with reassurances like, “Nope. Made by our great team!”
Ultimately, even if public sentiment remains divided or critical, Duolingo’s robust financial performance demonstrates that its core business objectives are being met. From the company’s perspective, the significant revenue growth and user engagement underscore the success of its AI-first strategy, proving that its impact on the bottom line outweighs public perception.
