Linus Torvalds, the creator and top-level maintainer of the Linux kernel, has drawn a line in the sand. In a lengthy post on the Linux kernel mailing list dated July 15, 2026, he declared that AI-powered coding tools are welcome in Linux development, and anyone who disagrees can, well, fork it.
“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,” Torvalds wrote.
From skeptic to supporter
Back in October 2024, Torvalds called 90% of AI messaging “marketing hype.” By mid-2026, the man is willing to, in his words, “absolutely put my foot down” in support of AI tools for kernel development.
The catalyst appears to be Sashiko, an AI code-review system developed by Google engineers that became open-source in March 2026. Sashiko uses large language model agents for automated patch review, and has reportedly identified around 53% of bugs in tested code sets.
