From Yahoo Finance: 2025-05-21 08:09:00

Duolingo’s user base and paid subscriptions are growing rapidly as the company focuses on expanding artificial intelligence (AI) and automation for faster innovation. The recent first-quarter report showed 130 million monthly active users (MAUs) and a 40% jump in paid subscribers, driving revenue and profit gains. The stock price nearly tripled in 52 weeks, with management embracing an AI-first strategy.

Duolingo’s long-term strategy aims to make the best education universally available, with rapid experimentation and innovation as the “Green Machine” philosophy. The company’s global target market of 1.8 billion language learners presents massive growth potential, expanding into math, music, and chess courses. The AI focus includes creating new content and scaling up the platform, though it has faced criticism for replacing human talent with automation.

Co-founder and CEO Luis von Ahn reinforced the AI focus, aiming to automate everything to accelerate innovation, not just for cost-cutting. The push towards AI-first has sparked criticism and concerns about replacing human workers. However, the company plans to retrain employees and balance human-AI operations responsibly. The impact on user growth and retention will be seen in the next business report.

Duolingo’s user count and stock price are expected to continue growing, despite concerns about the AI transition. The Motley Fool Stock Advisor team did not include Duolingo in their top 10 stocks, emphasizing the potential returns of their picks. Management is focused on transparent data reporting and balancing human-AI operations for long-term success.

Read more: Where Will Duolingo Be in 1 Year?