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Fortune
Fortune
Jessica Coacci

Duolingo CEO admits his controversial AI memo ‘did not give enough context’ and insists the company never laid off full-time employees

Duolingo MIT Von Ahn LinkedIn Luis von Ahn
Duolingo CEO Luis Von Ahn (Credit: David Paul Morris—Bloomberg/Getty Images)
  • Billionaire Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn has a message for his employees: He doesn’t want to lay them off. After receiving backlash this April for a staff memo posted on LinkedIn detailing the company’s “AI-first” strategy, the tech leader clarified that the $16.8 billion language app doesn’t plan to fire full-time staffers. Instead, its contractors will fluctuate based on the company’s needs, while its salaried staffers get more done, thanks to AI. 

After Duolingo received backlash for its “AI-first” staff memo posted on LinkedIn this April—conjuring worries of mass layoffs—the company’s CEO, Luis von Ahn, is setting the record straight. Now, the executive has doubled down that he doesn’t intend to “lay off humans.” 

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