Duolingo Doubles Courses in a Year (Thanks to AI)

The friendly Duolingo mascot is in favor of all AI all the time…

In this edition we’ll be covering…

• Duolingo’s latest AI announcement

• A breakdown on the first ever LlamaCon from Meta

• A tutorial on how to use the new GPT-4o Image API

• 5 trending AI signals

• 3 AI tools to keep you productive

• And much more…

The Latest in AI

Contractors Out, AI In for Duolingo

Duolingo just made its biggest move since going mobile-first in 2012.

CEO Luis von Ahn announced the company is now officially “AI-first,” and it’s already showing results: 148 new language courses built with generative AI, more than doubling its total offerings in under a year.

But this isn’t just about content… this looks like a full operational overhaul.

Here’s what’s changing:

• Duolingo will “gradually stop using contractors to do work that AI can handle,” according to von Ahn’s internal memo. This includes content creation, which the company says AI can now do faster and at scale.

• AI usage will now be part of hiring criteria and performance evaluations. New headcount will only be approved if a team can’t automate more of its work.

• Duolingo’s first 100 courses took 12 years to develop. Now, with AI and a “shared content” system, the company created 148 new courses in about a year. These include beginner-level content for Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Mandarin, each now available across all 28 supported UI languages.

So What?

Duolingo’s AI-first pivot is a signal to the rest of the tech world: automation is now central to product strategy, hiring, and company culture. By embedding AI into every layer of its operations, Duolingo is betting that speed and scale will outweigh the risks of early adoption.

But the move isn’t without controversy. Users and commentators have raised concerns about job displacement and the quality of AI-generated content. Duolingo’s challenge now is to prove that AI can not only match but enhance the learning experience.

If successful, this could redefine how EdTech companies, and perhaps all digital-first businesses, approach growth in the AI era.

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Industry Intel

LlamaCon Drops the API Mic

Meta’s inaugural LlamaCon 2025 for developers was basically a declaration of war in the AI arms race.

With the unveiling of Llama 4, a new Meta AI app, and the Llama API, Meta is positioning itself as a formidable contender against OpenAI and other AI giants…

Here’s what went down: 

• Scout and Maverick, the two released models, can process text and images and work across 12 languages. They’re built using a “mixture of experts” architecture, which means only the most relevant parts of the model activate per task. A third version, Behemoth, is still in the works, reportedly packing nearly 2 trillion parameters.'

• Meta AI App entered the chat. The company launched a new AI assistant app powered by Llama 4 that taps into users’ Facebook and Instagram data for personalized responses. Think ChatGPT with a social feed (with a very Meta twist).

• Meta’s new Llama API makes it easy for devs to plug Llama into their apps with minimal code. It’s a clear challenge to OpenAI’s API dominance, and part of Meta’s broader effort to build an open AI alternative.

• The company is putting serious money behind this. $65B in AI investments for 2025. 1.2 billion model downloads. A fireside chat with Microsoft’s Satya Nadella. Oh, and they’re even testing fine-tuned Llama models on the International Space Station.

So What?

LlamaCon showed that Meta’s strategy is all about flooding the zone with open tools, developer love, and infrastructure bets. If this open-source-first approach works, Meta could redraw the AI competitive map and force closed models to keep up or be left behind.

Tool Spotlight

Picture This: How to Build With The GPT-4o Image API

I can’t lie I’ve been tinkering with the new GPT-4o Image API (more to come on this next week, hopefully).

For additional context, OpenAI released the new image generation in the API last week and boy are things being BUILT.

One of the best parts about this release is the nonstop flow of new ideas it unlocks. Pair it with accelerators like Cursor or Lovable, and you’ve got an instant recipe for shipping fast.

To begin using the API:

1. Jump to the OpenAI Platform and grab an API key if you don’t have one already.

2. Open up any IDE or Jupyter Notebook.

3. Grab your API key and load it into a .env file, also be sure to install your dependencies:

pip install openai

OPENAI_API_KEY = "your API key"

4. Whether you’re testing in a notebook or building a full-stack app in an IDE, here is the Python code you can use:

from openai import OpenAI
import base64
client = OpenAI()

prompt = """
A children's book drawing of a veterinarian using a stethoscope to 
listen to the heartbeat of a baby otter.
"""

result = client.images.generate(
    model="gpt-image-1",
    prompt=prompt
)

image_base64 = result.data[0].b64_json
image_bytes = base64.b64decode(image_base64)

# Save the image to a file
with open("otter.png", "wb") as f:
    f.write(image_bytes)

Quick Bites

Stay updated with our favorite highlights, dive in for a full flavor of the coverage!

Pinterest says it’s finally going to do something about the AI slop that’s taken over its platform.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said Wednesday that China is “not behind” in artificial intelligence, and that Huawei is “one of the most formidable technology companies in the world.”

ChatGPT is adding shopping features to its powers, extending the reach of AI into an area traditionally dominated by media sites and tech rivals such as Amazon and Google.

Zuckerberg says in 12-18 months, AI will take over at writing most of the code for further AI progress.

Something strange, and potentially alarming, is happening to the job market for young, educated workers. It could be a sign that AI is distorting the job market.

Trending Tools

🌊 Windsurf - Where the work of developers and AI truly flow together, allowing for a coding experience that feels like literal magic.

🧠 Google ADK Samples - A collection of sample agents built with Agent Development (ADK).

📦️ MakerBox - Generate professional bios, covers, and posts that earn 3.5x more engagement and 87% more connections, in just 30 seconds.

The Neural Network

Hoping AI helps me solve this issue…

Until we Type Again…

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