05-13-2026RAPID RESPONSE

Duolingo’s CEO admits where he got AI wrong

Luis von Ahn says his viral AI memo was misunderstood, and that the company has learned a hard lesson: AI can boost productivity, but it still produces plenty of ‘slop.’

[Photo: Justin Merriman/Bloomberg via Getty Images]

When Luis von Ahn, Duolingo’s CEO, sent an internal memo about AI last year, he didn’t expect it to go viral—or to ignite a firestorm about the future of work. Now he unpacks what he got right, what he got wrong, and what the backlash taught him about the real limitations of AI. It’s a candid reckoning with hype, growth, and the surprisingly complicated promise of technology in education.

This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by the former editor-in-chief of Fast Company, Bob Safian. From the team behind the Masters of Scale podcast, Rapid Response features candid conversations with today’s top business leaders navigating real-time challenges.........

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