In April 2025, Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn told staff the company would 'gradually stop using contractors to do work AI can handle' and become 'AI-first'. Public reaction was so savage — users posting 'uninstall Duolingo' videos by the thousand — that the famously unhinged green owl TikTok mascot went completely silent for weeks. When Duo reappeared, he was dodging the question. Von Ahn walked the statement back and said AI would only 'augment' staff. The language-learning giant became the poster child for AI-washing layoffs backfiring.