Linux creator Linus Torvalds puts foot down on anti-AI comments

Linux creator Linus Torvalds puts foot down on anti-AI comments

15 Jul 2026 at 12:56 pm UTC | Last updated: 15 Jul 2026 at 1:02 pm UTC

By Liam Squires-Hand

In reply to a developer on one of the Linux kernel mailing lists, Linux creator Linus Torvalds firmly put a foot down to push back against anti-AI comments.

There's a lot of negativity surrounding generative AI including its use for making images, videos, code and now quite often for video games too. I don't think I need to again rehash why so many are against it, this should be well-known by now.

So sticking to what's happened - on the mailing list the topic of a post from the Software Freedom Conservancy came up titled "Recommendations When Using LLM-backed Generative AI Systems for FOSS Contributions", which has caused an issue for some developers who were talking about using Sashiko which is described as "Agentic review of Linux Kernel code changes".

Developer Laurent Pinchart mentioned:

I expect maintainers who want to act on sashiko reviews to triage and verify them first before bothering authors, yes. I believe we should follow the first two recommendations of the Software Freedom Conservancy on using LLM-backed generative AI systems for FOSS contributions ([1]).

[1] https://sfconservancy.org/llm-gen-ai/llm-backed-generative-ai-recommendations.html

Which prompted this reply from Roman Gushchin:

I think it makes the point of sashiko - helping maintainers - unachievable. If the point to not use LLMs in general, let’s discuss this, not how to make each use case more complex.

It seems like [1] expresses a very anti-LLM position in general, which I can understand and I agree with some of concerns. But I think it’s up to project leaders to decide if Linux in general takes this position and my take so far is that the answer is not.

And then in comes Linus Torvalds with some firm words:

Yes.

And no, that's not the position of the Linux kernel.

I realize that some people really dislike AI, but this is an area where I'm willing to absolutely put my foot down as the top-level maintainer.

Linux is not one of those anti-AI projects, and if somebody has issues with that, they can do the open-source thing and fork it.

Or just walk away.

AI is a tool, just like other tools we use. And it's clearly a useful one.

It may not have been that "clearly" even just a year ago, but it's no longer in question today.

There are other questions around AI (like what the economy of it will actually look like in the end), but "is it useful" is no longer one of those questions. Anybody who doubts that clearly hasn't actually used it.

Yes, it can also be a somewhat painful tool, both for maintainer workloads and just from a "it keeps finding embarrassing bugs" standpoint.

But the solution is not to put your head in the sand and sing "La La La, I can't hear you" at the top of your voice like some people seem to do.

The solution is to make sure those LLM tools _help_ maintainers instead of just causing them pain. There's no question on that side.

We're not forcing anybody to use it, but I will very loudly ignore people who try to argue against other people from using it.

And no, AI isn't perfect. But Christ, anybody who points to the problems at AI had better be looking in the mirror and pointing at themselves at the same time.

Because it's not like natural intelligence is always all that great either.

The kernel project has been and will continue to be about the technology.

Sure, the social angle of working on open source is important and often a very motivating part of the project, but in the end that's a side benefit, not the _point_ of the project.

This is *NOT* some kind of "social warrior" project, never has been, and never will be.

In the kernel community we do open source because it results in better technology, not because of religious reasons.

And so we make decisions primarily based on technical merit. Not fear of new tools.

Linus

What are your thoughts on this?

🌐 External Sources: sfconservancy.org, github.com/sashiko-dev/sashiko, lore.kernel.org Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.

Tags: AI, Kernel, Misc, Open Source

8 Likes

Some you may have missed, popular articles from the last month:

MECCHA CHAMELEON is a hide-and-seek body painting game taking over Steam

GE-Proton 11-1 arrives with d7vk, discord bridge, optiscaler and more added

Expect RAM prices to stay high with Micron locking in deals for 5 years

Palworld 1.0 is here with lots of new content

All posts need to follow our rules. Please hit the Report Flag icon on any post that breaks the rules or contains illegal / harmful content. Readers can also email us for any issues or concerns.

Supporter Plus

1 Likes 👍 (1) See more...

2 Likes 👍 (2) See more...

Mega Supporter

View PC info

1 Likes 👍 (1) See more...

View PC info

0 Likes

View PC info

1 Likes 👍 (1) See more...

View PC info

0 Likes

Supporter Plus

0 Likes

1 Likes 👍 (1) See more...

1 Likes 👍 (1) See more...

0 Likes

1 Likes 👍 (1) See more...