Linus Torvalds, creator and top-level maintainer of the Linux kernel, has declared strong support for using AI coding tools in the project, stating 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 emphasized he would "very loudly ignore people who try to argue against other people from using it," while noting no one is being forced to use LLM tools.
The debate emerged around Sashiko, an "agentic Linux kernel code review system" that its creators say can independently find 53.6 percent of bugs that would be fixed by human coders in later commits. However, the tool also generates false positive reports at a rate the maintainers estimate is "well within 20% range," potentially wasting maintainers' time.
Torvalds characterized his position as pragmatic, based on "technical merit. Not fear of new tools," calling AI "a tool, just like other tools we use." He noted that a 2024 METR study found AI-using coders were 19 percent less productive while feeling 20 percent more productive, though a February 2026 follow-up update suggested developers may be "more sped up from AI tools now" compared to earlier estimates.