United States · Content and translation · 9 January 2024
Duolingo
About 10% of contractors cut as GPT translates sentences.
- Status
- Too early to tell
- Roles
- Not stated
- The door
- Translating sentences and writing lesson content
- Last checked
- 21 October 2026
- Next review
- 21 January 2027
Reported
What the sources say. Each statement ends with a note that carries its quote.
The role
A Duolingo spokesperson said the company uses GPT to translate sentences.1 Duolingo had 600 full-time employees in 2022, according to company filings.2
The change
Duolingo confirmed that it cut around 10% of its contractor workforce at the end of 2023.3 The company disputed calling the departures layoffs.4 It said only a small minority of contractors were let go as their projects wrapped.4 The company also confirmed to Bloomberg that part of the reason it no longer needed as many people was attributable to AI.5
What happened next
On 28 April 2025, Duolingo’s cofounder and chief executive, Luis von Ahn, posted an email to all employees on LinkedIn.6 According to von Ahn, the company will gradually stop using contractors to do work that AI can handle.7 A week later, he said he did not see AI replacing what employees do.8
Von Ahn told the Financial Times that he did not expect the amount of blowback.9
Open questions
- Will Duolingo disclose how many contractors remain, or whether further contractor work moves to AI?
- Will users or staff report errors in AI-generated lessons that human review did not catch?
- Will Duolingo bring back human content staff or contractors?
Footnotes
-
“A company spokesperson explained to us that GPT is used to translate sentences and then ‘human experts validate that the output quality is high enough for teaching and is in accordance with CEFR standards for what learners should be able to do at each CEFR level.’” ↩
-
“Duolingo had 600 full-time employees in 2022, per company filings.” ↩
-
“The company confirmed it cut around 10% of its contractor workforce at the end of 2023, as it turns to AI models like OpenAI’s GPT-4 to streamline content production and translations.” ↩
-
“However, the company disputed calling the departures ‘layoffs,’ saying that only a ‘small minority’ of Duolingo’s contractors were let go as their projects wrapped.” ↩ ↩2
-
“In a comment to Bloomberg, the company also confirmed that part of the reason it no longer needed as many people was attributable to AI.” ↩
-
“On April 28, Duolingo cofounder and CEO Luis von Ahn posted an email on LinkedIn that he had just sent to all employees at his company.” ↩
-
“According to von Ahn: ‘We’ll gradually stop using contractors to do work that AI can handle.’” ↩
-
“A week later, von Ahn walked back his initial statements, clarifying that he does not ‘see AI replacing what our employees do’ but instead views it as a ‘tool to accelerate what we do, at the same or better level of quality.’” ↩
-
“‘I did not expect the amount of blowback,’ he recently told the Financial Times.” ↩
The doorman reading
Analysis. This is the site’s reading of what the sources describe, not something they say.
No source has reported hidden work going missing yet, such as complaints, waits, overtime, rehiring or a reversal. The ledger looks for it at each review.
What they said
What the organisation said the change would do, in its own words.
“A company spokesperson explained to us that GPT is used to translate sentences and then “human experts validate that the output quality is high enough for teaching and is in accordance with CEFR standards for what learners should be able to do at each CEFR level.””
“According to von Ahn: “We’ll gradually stop using contractors to do work that AI can handle.””
Timeline
Every update, oldest first.
Changelog
Corrections, and when the case was last looked at.
No corrections so far.
Last checked 21 October 2026. No new reports since 9 June 2025.
Sources
Each source has an archived copy, so a statement can be checked after a page changes.
TechCrunch
Duolingo cut 10% of its contractor workforce as the company embraces AI
9 January 2024 · Report · Archived copy
Fortune
Duolingo CEO surprised by backlash to AI-first company announcement
9 June 2025 · Report · Archived copy