Duolingo, the popular language-learning platform, has announced a significant expansion of its offerings, launching 148 new language courses created with generative AI. This ambitious rollout, revealed on April 30, 2025, more than doubles the company's previous course catalog and underscores its commitment to becoming an "AI-first" company.
The new courses focus on seven widely-requested non-English languages: Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Mandarin. These languages will now be available across all 28 supported user interface languages, dramatically increasing access to language learning for over a billion potential learners worldwide.
CEO Luis von Ahn, in a memo to employees, emphasized that the company would "gradually stop using contractors to do work that AI can handle." This statement has sparked controversy and backlash from users and industry observers, raising questions about the potential impact on employment and the quality of educational content.
Historically, developing a single new course has taken years, but Duolingo's new approach, which leverages generative AI and a system called "shared content," has allowed the company to create and launch this new suite of courses in less than a year. Von Ahn noted, "Developing our first 100 courses took about 12 years, and now, in about a year, we're able to create and launch nearly 150 new courses." This rapid expansion is made possible by a process that enables the creation of a high-quality base course, which can then be quickly customized for different languages.
Jessie Becker, Duolingo's Senior Director of Learning Design, explained that the use of generative AI not only accelerates course development but also ensures that every course meets the company's rigorous quality standards. "Now, by using generative AI to create and validate content, we're able to focus our expertise where it's most impactful," Becker said.
The new beginner-level courses (CEFR A1-A2) include immersive features such as Stories for reading comprehension and DuoRadio for listening skills. DuoRadio offers podcast-like audio experiences featuring Duolingo's characters, helping users tune their ears to native speech patterns, while Stories present interactive narratives that test comprehension in context.
While this expansion promises to democratize language learning, especially for Asian languages like Japanese and Korean, it also raises concerns about the quality of AI-generated content. Critics argue that the rush to automate could compromise the educational experience, leading to a decline in the effectiveness of language instruction.
In January 2024, Duolingo had already taken steps toward this AI-driven future by cutting approximately 10% of its contractors, primarily affecting teams responsible for course creation and translation. The latest memo from von Ahn indicates that future hiring will only be approved if a team cannot automate more of their work, a policy that has drawn comparisons to similar shifts at other tech companies.
Sam Dalsimer, a spokesperson for Duolingo, defended the company's strategy, stating, "Our vision has always been to use technology to teach as well as a human tutor, and because of AI, that goal is within our reach for the first time ever." He reassured that Duolingo has no intention of reducing its full-time headcount or hiring, emphasizing that any changes to contractor staffing will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
As Duolingo positions itself as a leader in the integration of AI within consumer education, it finds itself at the center of a broader industry debate: can AI truly replace human expertise in teaching, or are we sacrificing quality for quantity? The effectiveness of these new courses will ultimately determine whether the company's gamble on AI pays off.
With over a billion potential learners now having access to previously unavailable language combinations, the stakes are high. The green owl, Duolingo's mascot, is pushing forward into its algorithmic future, even if that means ruffling some feathers along the way. The reception of these initial offerings could set the tone for how language learning evolves in the age of artificial intelligence.
