Linus Torvalds backs AI coding in Linux

Linus Torvalds has come down firmly in favor of AI-assisted coding tools in the Linux kernel project, rejecting calls to keep LLM-generated code out of the codebase altogether.

In a long post to the Linux kernel mailing list this week, Torvalds wrote that “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.” He added that he is “willing to absolutely put my foot down” in support of using AI tools to improve the long-running open source project.

The argument surfaced during a broader discussion about Sashiko, described by its creators as an “agentic Linux kernel code review system.” In tests, the developers say Sashiko can independently find 53.6 percent of the bugs later fixed by human coders in subsequent commits. But the system also creates extra work: its maintainers estimate a false positive rate “well within [the] 20% range.”

That matters because kernel maintainers were debating whether they should have to deal with a stream of automated, AI-generated bug-report emails, whether accurate or not. During the thread, one participant pointed to a recent statement from the Software Freedom Conservancy, which said the open source community “should support, not just tolerate, those who outright reject LLM-gen-AI systems” and that “every FOSS contributor deserves self-determination regarding LLM-gen-AI.”

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Torvalds rejected that framing. He said he does not support demands that open source projects refuse all LLM-generated code or revisions.

“We’re not forcing anybody to use [LLM tools], but I will very loudly ignore people who try to argue against other people from using it.”

The stance draws a clear line for the Linux project: contributors do not have to use AI tools, but objections to others using them will not carry much weight with the kernel’s top maintainer.