Duolingo’s Billionaire Founder Is All In On AI

Forbes

Luis von Ahn, who grew up with little money in Guatemala, aims to transform the popular language-learning app into an automated AI tutor.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardnieva/2024/09/24/duolingo-luis-von-ahn-billionaire-ai-tutor/#:~:text=Luis%20von%20Ahn%2C%20who%20grew,into%20an%20automated%20AI%20tutor.  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, Duolingo's billionaire founder is all-in on AI.

00:08Sitting in Duos Taqueria, a dimly-lit upscale Mexican restaurant in Pittsburgh, Luis Van

00:13Aan contemplates the end of work as we know it.

00:16In between bites of al pastor tacos and sips of a margarita, Van Aan, founder and CEO of

00:22the language learning app Duolingo, talks about how AI will make some jobs disappear

00:28and workers will need to be retrained.

00:31He speaks from experience.

00:33Late last year, Duolingo decided not to renew the contracts of about 10% of its contracted

00:37workforce who did translations and lesson writing, instead opting to use AI for those

00:43tasks in some cases.

00:45Of the dismissals, Van Aan said, quote,

00:48Our stance as a company is that if we can automate something, we will.

00:52A full-time employee's job is very hard to automate, but we had some hourly contractors

00:57who were doing pretty rote stuff.

01:00While he firmly believes it was the right call for his company, he's cognizant of the

01:04broader problems AI will bring.

01:07He said, quote,

01:08It's a tough situation that'll affect the poor, the less educated.

01:12And not just in the U.S., but in poor countries.

01:16From a table in the back of the restaurant, which was originally designed by Duolingo

01:19as a place where diners could practice their Spanish, he notes it will require smart regulation

01:25from world governments to make sure AI is equitable.

01:28But he doesn't have much faith in the U.S.

01:31He said, quote,

01:32It's just very hard right now to imagine that the U.S. is going to legislate this well,

01:36given that they can't agree on anything.

01:40But longer term, Van Aan is optimistic that AI could unlock new possibilities for learning,

01:45bringing high-quality education to the masses.

01:48He thinks languages can help lift people out of poverty, noting that, for non-native speakers,

01:54learning English instantly broadens a person's earning potential and opens up a whole new

01:58world of jobs.

01:59He sees Duolingo on the forefront of the transition to AI-powered learning, with the ultimate

02:04moonshot of creating an automated AI tutor that can teach anyone a foreign language.

02:10He has also said that he thinks AI will make computers better teachers than humans.

02:16Earlier this past week, Duolingo unveiled its first step in that direction, an interactive

02:22feature in which users partake in video calls with Lily, one of Duolingo's beloved mascots,

02:28purple-haired, sarcastic cartoon woman.

02:31Chatting with Lily allows people to practice conversing in other languages as if FaceTiming

02:35with an AI friend, with dialogue generated by OpenAI's GPT-4-O model.

02:42It's part of a $30 a month subscription tier called Duolingo Max, which the company debuted

02:47last year for its premium AI features, including one that tells people why they answered a

02:52question wrong during a lesson.

02:55Another new AI addition is a mini-game called Adventures, which puts users in interactive

02:59situations to practice their language skills, like ordering a coffee from a cafe or getting

03:05their passport checked.

03:07The new features are the latest wave of tools from a generative AI push the company began

03:11last year.

03:13The AI push by Duolingo, which went public in 2022, has translated into a surge of users

03:19and revenue.

03:21Almost 104 million people take language, math, and music lessons on the app each month, up

03:2640% year-over-year.

03:29This past quarter, revenue hit $178.3 million, up 41% from last year.

03:37The company's stock hit an all-time high last Monday of $270, vaulting the company to an

03:42$11.75 billion market cap.

03:46Van Aan, who owns roughly 10% of the company, is now a billionaire, along with his co-founder

03:52Severin Hacker.

03:54And while business is booming right now, competitors are also investing in AI.

03:59Babbel, for example, last year debuted a speech recognition feature that learns a user's voice

04:04to evaluate their pronunciation.

04:07And Rosetta Stone also added AI-powered language assessment exams, used in enterprise settings.

04:14For full coverage, check out Richard Nieves' piece on Forbes.com.

04:20This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:22Thanks for tuning in.

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