{"id":184065,"date":"2025-11-13T12:58:29","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T12:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/duolingo-the-fun-and-fearless-company-we-loved-for-language-learning-is-now-struggling-in-the-stock-market\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T12:58:31","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T12:58:31","slug":"duolingo-the-fun-and-fearless-company-we-loved-for-language-learning-is-now-struggling-in-the-stock-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/duolingo-the-fun-and-fearless-company-we-loved-for-language-learning-is-now-struggling-in-the-stock-market\/","title":{"rendered":"Duolingo: The Fun and Fearless Company We Loved for Language Learning Is Now Struggling in the Stock Market"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Most people never manage to turn their ideas into business successes. Luis von Ahn (Guatemala City, 1978) has achieved it twice. The first, when he created reCAPTCHA and sold it to Google in 2009 for a small fortune.<\/p>\n

The second, years later, started from a much simpler concept. Learning languages was a pain<\/strong>, so von Ahn wanted to turn that into just the opposite: something fun. This is how it was born Duolingo<\/a>, a company that taught how to speak languages with a strong component of gamification<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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No longer did you have to go to an academy or spend long periods of time in online courses; you could learn words, phrases, and pronunciation through small tests when you were on the bus or waiting in a queue.<\/p>\n

Duolingo Achieved the Most Difficult Thing: Making Us Fall in Love<\/h2>\n

Learning with Duolingo was fun and comforting. The small rewards worked and turned it almost into a video game that more and more people became fond of. The snowball got bigger and bigger, and Duolingo became one of those companies that seemed likable from the start<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Everything it did seemed to be well-executed, and gradually, the company took significant steps to become the giant it is today. Certifications arrived that sought to rival famous exams like TOEFL, its platform for schools expanded, and new languages became available. Some, like Japanese, were a challenge, while others like Klingon or High Valyrian were whimsical additions that enhanced its fun image.<\/p>\n

Then, Duolingo wanted to go beyond spoken languages. It aimed to help kids learn to read and write<\/a>. For both young and old, Duolingo wanted to become a private math teacher<\/a>, offering courses in music<\/a> and even chess<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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All of this solidified Duolingo’s image as a company that not only solved real problems but did it in a friendly, engaging way.<\/strong> In 2021, the company decided to go public<\/a>, and after a period of relative calm, their shares began to increase significantly. Everything seemed to be going great for the company.<\/p>\n

AI Has Mortally Wounded Duolingo<\/h2>\n

Then everything went wrong. When OpenAI presented GPT-4 in June 2024, many envisioned a future where typing on computers or mobile screens would be obsolete. Instead, just speaking to AI would suffice, showing a promising new landscape.<\/p>\n

Initially, this didn\u2019t seem to affect Duolingo too much. However, everything changed when CEO Luis von Ahn announced an “AI First” vision in April, betting on artificial intelligence as a path for growth. This message, interpreted by some as “let\u2019s do without the human touch,” sparked controversy and negative fallout.<\/p>\n

As the shares began to plummet, the situation deteriorated further in August when GPT-5 showcased custom AI models that could provide tailored language learning experiences. Users shifted their affection away from Duolingo as criticisms emerged, particularly about its excessive gamification. One user on Reddit articulated the sentiment well: “For me, the reward for learning a language is learning the language.”<\/p>\n

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As the controversy escalated, Duolingo’s stock continued to drop. Their recent financial results showed that the company reached 135 million active monthly users (with 50 million using it daily), representing a growth of 20% year-over-year. Additionally, paying users increased by 34%. These numbers, while impressive, prompted concerns about less optimistic future forecasts. This resulted in another stock market debacle.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The shares have now plummeted 64% since hitting high points on May 1, shortly after the “AI First” announcement. Duolingo finds itself in a precarious position, and the impending months will be crucial for its trajectory.<\/p>\n

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The company is now grappling with a significant dilemma. The rise of AI poses a challenge that could lead users to realize that practicing languages can be as simple as saying, \u201cI want to practice my English with you. Correct me and suggest small exercises.\u201d How Duolingo navigates this shifting landscape will ultimately determine its future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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General News – 2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most people never manage to turn their ideas into business successes. Luis von Ahn (Guatemala City, 1978) has achieved it twice. The first, when he created reCAPTCHA and sold it to Google in 2009 for a small fortune. The second, years later, started from a much simpler concept. Learning languages was a pain, so von […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":184066,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36399],"tags":[541,40764,45278,8293,2499,4543,6135,1857,2089,3294],"class_list":["post-184065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-company","tag-duolingo","tag-fearless","tag-fun","tag-language","tag-learning","tag-loved","tag-market","tag-stock","tag-struggling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184065\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}