AsianFin -- Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn is pushing back against criticism of his pledge to make the language-learning app an “AI-first company,” saying the backlash stemmed from a lack of context rather than intent.

“In-house, it wasn’t controversial at all,” von Ahn told The New York Times. “Externally, because we’re a public company, some assumed it was only about profit—or that we were planning to replace humans. That was never the goal.”

Von Ahn emphasized that Duolingo has “never laid off any full-time employees” and has no plans to do so. While the company has reduced its contractor workforce, he said such changes have always fluctuated with business needs.

Despite the flare-up, von Ahn remains upbeat on AI’s role in education. Duolingo now sets aside Friday mornings for staff to experiment with the technology, part of a broader push to integrate AI into its platform.