Torvalds Praises AI for Coding at Open Source Summit
Linus Torvalds said at Open Source Summit Europe that he really likes using AI, including for a guitar pedal project, and that AI code review system Sashiko is here to stay.
At the Open Source Summit Europe, Linus Torvalds said he really likes using artificial intelligence (AI), and noted that the Sashiko AI code review system now posts public reviews on the Linux Kernel Mailing List.
Torvalds said he uses AI to do the things he is bad at and that AI makes programming much more enjoyable for him. He described AI as a wonderful tool when treated as a tool and used correctly, adding that it is a wonderful way to find joy in programming, referring to vibe coding.
He also described AI as a gateway drug for new programmers, and applied it to his guitar pedal toy project to improve its user interface — an attempt he said was horrendous, noting that he had already done it correctly in C.
On the Linux kernel, Torvalds said that some subsystem maintainers expect patches to have received a Sashiko review before acceptance, and that AI code checking is here to stay. He noted that three-quarters of the preceding day's Linux Kernel Maintainer Summit discussion concerned making AI generation an issue.
Earlier this year, according to background from the summit, Torvalds said in Mumbai that convincing but fabricated bug reports can require substantial human effort to disprove. Torvalds started programming in 1981, and separately, System76 has banned AI-generated content from its COSMIC desktop.
Quick answers
What did Linus Torvalds say about AI at Open Source Summit Europe?
He said he really likes using AI, uses it for things he is bad at, and that it makes programming more enjoyable. He also said AI code checking is here to stay.
What is Sashiko?
Sashiko is an agentic Linux kernel code review system that now posts public reviews on the Linux Kernel Mailing List.