‘It’s not like natural intelligence is always all that great either’: Linus Torvalds addresses anti-AI sentiment in Linux development
Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, has publicly declared that the Linux project is not “anti-AI,” putting down a firm stance against growing sentiment within the development community opposing artificial intelligence tools. His statement came in response to discussions about implementing Sashiko, an agentic code review system designed to analyze changes to the Linux kernel.
In his response to the community, Torvalds emphasized that Linux’s decision-making process is rooted in technical merit rather than fear of new technologies. “We make decisions primarily based on technical merit. Not fear of new tools,” he stated, adding that he was willing to “absolutely put [his] foot down as the top-level maintainer” on this issue.
Torvalds acknowledged that some people within the community harbor strong negative feelings toward AI but made clear that the Linux project will not adopt an anti-AI stance. He further suggested that those fundamentally opposed to the use of AI tools have the option to fork the project or step away, positioning the issue as one where compromise is not viable.
The tension reflects a broader societal debate about artificial intelligence integration into various sectors, with developers and technologists holding diverse views on the appropriateness and risks of AI tools. Some in the Linux community worry about potential issues with AI-assisted code review or development, while others, like Torvalds, view such tools pragmatically based on their technical performance and utility.
This stance signals that the Linux project will continue evaluating new tools, including AI-powered systems, based on their effectiveness rather than ideological opposition to artificial intelligence.