New York-based news magazine Time has named Duolingo Inc. to its annual list of the 100 Most Influential Companies across the globe.
It's the second time that edtech platform provider Duolingo (NASDAQ: DUOL) has been featured among the likes of the biggest and most innovative companies around the world following Time's debut of the inaugural list in 2021.
Two years ago, Time recognized the East Liberty-based company for its ability to attract over 500 million downloads of its language learning app to smartphones since its launch in 2011. Time also celebrated the company's then-recent publishing of its Duolingo ABC literacy app that teaches children aged 3 to 7 how to read and write.
But for 2023, Time is praising Duolingo for its use of artificial intelligence to bring new language learning tools to the millions of people who opt to pay to use the company's premium version of its platform.
This past March, Duolingo launched its Duolingo Max subscription tier, which uses advanced generative AI tech from OpenAI Inc.'s GPT-4 to let people practice scenario-based conversations with a tutor-like chatbot in another language, like trying to order a pastry at a French bakery in Paris. Duolingo is also using AI to help its learners better understand why they may have gotten an answer wrong during an assessment on the platform via an interactive conversation tailored to the learner's mistake.
"GPT-4 — is moving Duolingo closer to its holy grail of replicating one-on-one tutoring," Jeremy Gantz, Time contributing editor, said in Duolingo's profile that accompanied its placement on the list.
Over 20 million daily users were active on Duolingo's language learning platform during its most recent fiscal quarter, up 62% year-over-year. The company also reported that 4.8 million people are paying for its premium, subscription-based offering, up 63% from the 2.9 million who did the same year-over-year.
"And ever since [these AI features] came out, ever since we got early access to it, we started developing features for it. And what's amazing about it is it's like having a really good writer on staff. It allows us to just have a really good language that can come pretty quickly," Duolingo CEO and Co-Founder Luis von Ahn said during the company's Q1 earnings call. "So in our case, we just think there's a massive opportunity to make our apps teach better, be more engaging, which is really important, and also to have lower costs."
During the call, von Ahn said the language learning platform makers have been using AI to create educational content at a faster and cheaper pace than before. That's saving time across the company's roughly 650-person workforce and it's leading to a better product for its users, von Ahn said.
