r/opensource Bans AI Projects Under New Submission Rules
The moderators also require projects to be at least a year old with multiple contributors, and critics say the rules exclude non-English speakers.
The moderators of the Reddit community r/opensource posted new submission rules on October 24, 2026 that ban projects which use AI, are made by AI, or are intended for AI, according to The Verge. The rules also require any submitted project to be at least one year old, actively maintained, and built by multiple contributors.
The moderators wrote that the community can no longer field requests for maintainers or contributors. The rules also effectively bar non-English speakers, stating that people who do not speak English must find a different community.
The changes drew a backlash in the comments and led to the creation of a rival subreddit, r/trueopensource.
Moderator Wolvereness commented that there is room for selective enforcement, citing software with incidental AI accessibility features such as automatic captioning as an example.
Critics noted that the Linux kernel now contains some AI-generated code, which could make projects using it bannable under the new rules.
Quick answers
What do the new r/opensource rules ban?
Projects that use AI, are made by AI, or are intended for AI. Submissions must also be at least a year old, actively maintained, and have multiple contributors.
Why did r/trueopensource launch?
The new rules sparked a backlash in the comments, and r/trueopensource was created as a rival subreddit.