The world's most downloaded language-learning app, increasingly built with generative AI.
Duolingo, founded in Pittsburgh in 2011 by Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker, is the most widely used language-learning platform in the world, offering gamified courses in more than 40 languages alongside math, music and chess. The company has leaned heavily into generative AI, using large language models to produce course content and to power conversation practice in its Duolingo Max tier, and in 2025 described itself as an AI-first company. It also runs the Duolingo English Test, an online proficiency exam accepted by thousands of institutions. Duolingo is a useful indicator of how consumer demand for language learning evolves as AI translation improves.