Linus Torvalds says Linux won’t ban AI tools

Linus Torvalds says the Linux kernel project will not take an anti-AI stance, arguing that developers should be free to decide whether to use AI tools in their work.

In a kernel mailing list update, Torvalds said developers who object to that approach can “do the open-source thing and fork it.” He added that AI will not be mandatory, and that nobody is being forced to use it.

Torvalds framed the issue as a practical one rather than an ideological fight. He said AI is a tool, and while he is not actively advocating for it either way, real-world use cases have made its value harder to dismiss despite concerns around economics, environmental impact, and long-term consequences.

At the same time, he acknowledged that AI-generated contributions can create serious problems for maintainers. According to Torvalds, AI-assisted submissions can increase workload, generate noise, duplicate existing work, and generally make more work for humans.

“The solution is to make sure those LLM tools _help_ maintainers instead of just causing them pain.”

Torvalds also pushed back on the idea that human-written code should automatically be treated as a higher standard, saying “natural intelligence” can be just as error-prone as artificial intelligence.

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He made clear that the kernel project is not meant to be a battleground for arguments over AI, calling it not “some kind of 'social warrior' project.” Instead, he said, the focus remains on the technology itself, with contributions welcome regardless of whether a developer used AI assistance.

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