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Duolingo launched 148 new language classes that were built by generative AI, the company announced Wednesday. The move, which more than doubles it current language offering, comes as the gamified learning platform is facing criticism for replacing contract workers with artificial intelligence. “Developing our first 100 courses took about 12 years, and now, in about a year, were able to create and launch nearly 150 new courses. This is a great example of how generative AI can directly benefit our learners,” Duolingo CEO and cofounder Luis von Ahn said in a press release. “This launch reflects the incredible impact of our AI and automation investments, which have allowed us to scale at unprecedented speed and quality.” As of Wednesday, the language expansion makes the platforms seven most popular non-English languagesSpanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Mandarinavailable across all supported user interface languages. This means that speakers of languages like Japanese, Hindi, and Mandarin can now learn any of these languages, not just English. According to the company, the new courses will initially focus on beginner levels, with more advanced content to follow in the coming months. The rapid expansion is part of Duolingo’s bet on artificial intelligence. Von Ahn said in an email to employees and posted to social media on Monday that it was shifting to become an “AI-first” company. That includes phasing out contractors who do work that AI can handle, approving headcount additions if a team can’t automate more of its work, and looking for AI skills when hiring. “This isn’t about replacing Duos with AI,” von Ahn wrote in the email. “It’s about removing bottlenecks so we can do more with the outstanding Duos we already have. We want you to focus on creative work and real problems, not repetitive tasks. We’re going to support you with more training, mentorship, and tooling for AI in your function.” Duolingo will likely share more about its mission when it reports first quarter 2025 earnings on Thursday. Shares of the company were up nearly 18% year-to-date on Wednesday afternoon and up 174% from its 2021 market debut.
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E-Commerce
GLP-1 weight loss treatment can be pricey. But employers who cover the treatments could end up saving on employee medical expenses overall. The finding is according to a new analysis of health insurance claims by global professional services firm, Aon, released Wednesday.The report looked at data for more than 50 million commercially insured people in the U.S., including 139,000 taking GLP-1 drugs, from 2022 to 2024. It found that after an initial spike in costs related to weight loss treatment with drugs like Ozempic, Mounjaro, and Wegovy, costs fell drastically. Cost growth for the group receiving GLP-1 treatment trended at half the rate of the control group in the second year of the analysis. The analysis also found a seven-percentage reduction in overall medical costs for the GLP-1 users when compared with workers with similar health conditions who weren’t taking the drugs. When it came to cardiovascular incidents, the report showed major gains for GLP-1 users, too. 44% experienced fewer hospitalizations caused by cardiac events, such as heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure. They also logged fewer cases of pneumonia, alcohol and substance issues, and more. “Obesity is an escalating global epidemic, impacting nearly 40 percent of U.S. adults, contributing to more than 60 chronic conditions and costing the U.S. economy up to $1.72 trillion annually,” said Greg Case, CEO of Aon, said in Aon’s report. “Addressing this issue is not only a public health opportunity but also a workforce and economic imperative.” Case continued, “Our analysis shows that GLP-1 medications, when paired with a holistic adherence program, represent a once-in-a-generation opportunity to prevent and manage chronic disease, improve quality of life and bend the healthcare cost curve.” The new findings come as access to the drugs has recently been limited. When GLP-1 drugs rapidly gained popularity, tripling in use among adults that don’t have diabetes from 2018 to 2022, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ran into supply issues. That allowed for compounding pharmacies to make cheaper versions of the drugs, which were sold on popular telehealth sites like Hims & Hers. However, when the FDA announced that the supply issues were rectified, it put a deadline on the making of the generic versions. And last week, a federal judge ruled against a compounding trade groups request for a preliminary injunction that would’ve prevented the FDA from interfering with their continued manufacturing of the drugs.However, we’re now seeing telehealth companies and GLP-1 makers begin to work together in order to keep the drugs accessible. This week, Novo Nordisk, the maker of Wegovy, announced it would offer its weight loss drugs on Hims & Hers, Ro, and Life MD. We felt it was really important to work hard to establish a collaboration with telehealth companies so that there could be access to Wegovy as the compounding is winding down, Dave Moore, executive vice president of U.S. operations at Novo Nordisk said, per CNBC.Were really pleased about the level of interest to access branded Wegovy and to start to sort of catch people as they come off of compounded medicine.”
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E-Commerce
As the weather warms up, nationwide protests against the Trump Administration are getting larger. More Americans are taking to the streets, town halls, and public forums in every state and major U.S. city to voice their growing disapproval of the administration’s handling of everything from the economy to immigration. It’s no coincidence that the next big protest is happening this Thursday, May 1, on May Day, or International Workers’ Day. It comes as many American workers face layoffs, skyrocketing living costs, and overall economic uncertainty as a result of widespread tariffs since the beginning of Trump’s second term. Americans from all walks of life and all corners of the country have joined anti-Trump protests this year, including: retirees worried about cuts to Social Security and Medicare; teachers at schools under attack for DEI, where funding has been pulled; struggling middle class families with small children; and government workers who were recently laid off amid job cuts by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). May Day protestors are expected to include men and women, girls and boys, the young, middle aged, and old. That’s because this movement is a populist one, representing the general sentiment of Americans who increasingly disapprove of the way Trump is governing, punctuated by his sinking approval ratings. What protests are happening on May Day 2025? Organizers are holding “a national day of action” on Thursday, May 1, with more than 1,100 events slated for nearly 1,000 cities across the country in all 50 states. Major cities include Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Phoenix, Raleigh, San Francisco, St. Paul, MN, and Washington, D.C. (Here is a list of May Day events and locations.) Organizers expect about 70,000 protesters. “This May Day we are fighting back” organizers posted on the May Day website. “We are demanding a country that puts our families over their fortunespublic schools over private profits, healthcare over hedge funds, prosperity over free market politics.” Like the recent “Hands Off” protests earlier this month, which drew hundreds of thousands of Americans, the May Day protests are organized by a broad coalition of groups, including unions, non-profits, educators, and progressive political groups. Some of those organizers include: MoveOn, Womens March, Indivisible, American Federation of Teachers, Greenpeace USA, Massachusetts Teachers Association, 50501, The Association of Professional Flight Attendants, Union of Southern Service Workers, and Florida National Organization for Women, just to name a few. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is among the many people slated to speak, and he is expected join one of the rallies in Philadelphia at 4 p.m. ET on Thursday. Organizers have emphasized that “nonviolence is a ‘core principle’ behind the action,” aimed at “fighting back” against President Donald Trump “and his billionaire profiteers [who] are trying to create a race to the bottomon wages, on benefits, on dignity itself.” “We’re coming together to send a loud and clear message to Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the rest of the billionaire oligarchs trying to destroy our democracy,” Saqib Bhatti, executive director of Bargaining for the Common Good, one of the May Day protests’ sponsors, said in a statement. “There will be no business as usual.”
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E-Commerce
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