A company wants to focus more on AI and the CEO announces this to the employees. However, the reaction to his vision is prompt and far from positive.
The company Duolingo offers an international language learning app. Luis von Ahn, co-founder and CEO of Duolingo, recently stated in an email he sent to all employees that his company should become an “AI-first” company.
However, the reactions from employees and users were so devastating that he had to retract his statements and apologize. This is reported by the English-language magazine Fortune.
CEO announces ‘AI-first’ company, walks back one week later, shocked by reactions
What was that email about? On April 28, 2025, Luis von Ahn posted on LinkedIn an email he had just sent to all employees of his company. In it, he outlined his vision for Duolingo to become an ‘AI-first’ company.
This included that contractors would leave the company if AI could perform their work, and that a team could only hire a new person if it was not able to automate its work with AI.
What were the reactions? The comments were almost all negative and devastating for the CEO of Duolingo. Many were appalled by the CEO’s email and stated that they no longer wanted to support such a company. One person said: “I cannot support a company that replaces people with AI.”
How did the company react? A week later, the CEO retracted his statements and made it clear that he does not see “AI as a replacement for our employees’ work”, but rather as a “tool to accelerate our work with the same or better quality”.
In an interview with the Financial Times (Paywall), he stated that he never expected such a harsh reaction from users. He was even quite shocked: “I did not expect such headwinds”
He says he should have articulated his goals regarding AI more clearly, but he also believes that the negative reaction is due to the general fear that AI will replace workers. “Every tech company is doing similar things, but we were open about it,” he said.
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