Linux kernel drops AI contribution disclosure rule, as Linus Torvalds says banning the technology is "absolutely stupid."

The key to Torvalds is that you understand the code you post, not how you built it.

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The Linux kernel has removed a rule that went into effect in January this year that required contributors to submit code to the project to explicitly disclose any use of artificial intelligence tools in the creation of that code.

Earlier this year, the Linux Project added lines to its documentation noting that "when AI tools contribute to kernel development, proper attribution helps track the AI's evolving role in the development process... If you used any kind of advanced coding tool in creating your patch, you should acknowledge its use by adding a help tag." Now, as reported by The Register, the project's guardians have decided that the label is no longer necessary and has been removed from the relevant documents.

why Well, to hear Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux and its main maintainer, respond to the concerns raised by contributor Lauren Pinchart about removing the tag, because it doesn't actually say anything of value about the code that was added to it.

"I don't understand this stupid 'don't use AI for X' concept," Torvalds wrote in a post to the core mailing list. But that understanding has little to do with the tools they use."

In other words, there is good code - which a developer knows and understands well - and bad code - which a developer has more or less removed - and both can be built with the help of AI tools. So in Torvalds' view, forcing the disclosure of certain tools isn't really worth much. This does not help Linux kernel maintainers to separate bad code from good code. At least, that's how I interpret what Torvalds said.

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Torvalds compared laws that limit or prohibit the use of AI in coding (which, clearly, is not what the law in question did) with hypothetical laws that limit other, more respectable tools. "Here's a new rule just for you: don't use the compiler for any of your kernel submissions," he suggested. "Because if you can't show by writing your code in assembler that you really understand what the machine is actually doing, then I don't want to see your code contributed. If you can't write it like that, you're clearly incompetent."

"Don't you see how stupid these kinds of laws would be? So no. We're not going to make stupid rules that say "you can't use tools for X".

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This statement comes as no surprise to Torvalds, who has generally been very positive about the use of AI when coding (while lamenting the number of slop reports the core team now has to wade through). I doubt arguments like this will end anytime soon, though, even with the help of a benevolent Linux dictator for life. Computing, and open source in particular, is still figuring out how to live in the world that artificial intelligence has brought us.

One of Josh's earliest memories is playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was too young to do so, and he has been irreparably addicted to the mind game ever since. His writing has appeared in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He plays just about anything, and has written extensively on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His deepest love is for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition exceeds its budget. He thinks you're too bad about Deus Ex: The Invisible War

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