Linus Torvalds opposes AI disclosure rule

Linus Torvalds, the principal developer of the Linux kernel, has opposed a proposal to stop requiring contributors to report when they use AI tools on the Linux kernel mailing list. The rule in question involved the "Assisted-by" tag, which had been required since January for anyone using "any type of advanced coding tool" to include in their commit message.

Proposal to remove AI disclosure rule

Sasha Levin, a kernel developer at Nvidia, proposed removing the "Assisted-by" tag requirement in a patch published on October 9. His proposal, which called for deprecating the tag and removing related documentation, generated over 50 responses on the mailing list. Levin stated that the Maintainers Summit reached a consensus on the change.

Concerns about the AI disclosure tag

Jeff Layton, a kernel developer at Red Hat, had previously raised three concerns about the "Assisted-by" tag. He argued that not everyone followed the policy and that the tag served as free advertising for proprietary large language model (LLM) companies. He also questioned the purpose of collecting such information in the kernel.

Opposition to removing the AI disclosure rule

Laurent Pinchart, a kernel developer and founder of Ideas on Board, disagreed with removing the tag without implementing an alternative mechanism to ensure mandatory disclosure. He argued that the rule set expectations for contributors, even if some people cheated, and that removing it could lead to rejections of contributions.

Torvalds suggests strict coding rules

Torvalds responded to Pinchart by suggesting that contributors should write in assembly to prove they understand the machine and should not use an editor to write commit messages, as the backspace key hides typos. He emphasized that he expects contributors to do their best and understand what they are doing, regardless of the tools they use.

Torvalds' changing views on AI

Torvalds recently expressed a more positive view on AI, noting that his opinion had shifted from thinking AI was "just not very performant" to finding it useful for tasks he is not good at. He used AI for a guitar pedal project and described "vibe coding" as a "wonderful way to find joy in programming."

AI's impact on the Linux kernel

Torvalds acknowledged that AI tools now detect real security flaws in the kernel and identify issues in drivers that have not been touched in 20 years. However, he also noted that AI has a cost, stressing maintainers to the point that it becomes a problem. At the Maintainers Summit, about three quarters of the discussions focused on ways to reduce the stress caused by AI tools.

Other projects restrict AI use

Some open-source projects are going against the trend of using AI. System76 banned AI-generated content from its COSMIC desktop, and NetBSD prohibited AI-generated code since 2024. NetBSD reported receiving $120,282 in donations, exceeding its $50,000 goal. This has sparked debate within the open-source community about whether AI-generated content should be allowed in projects.