{
  "id": 16185521,
  "title": "Torvalds: AI is fine for competent devs, but spare us the 'drive-by' patches",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/23/torvalds-ai-is-fine-for-competent-devs-but-spare-us-the-drive-by-16185521",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-23T11:31:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Register",
    "slug": "the-register",
    "url": "https://www.theregister.com/columnists/2026/10/23/torvalds-ai-is-fine-for-competent-devs-but-spare-us-the-drive-by-patches/5304357"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Linus Torvalds is using AI to assist in writing Linux kernel code, and some are criticizing him. Roy Schestowitz, editor of Tux Machines, expressed his reaction as \"Linus Torvalds Turns to Slop.\" In the Tom's Hardware comments section, commenter LordVile suggested this was a publicity stunt orchestrated by the Linux Foundation. Torvalds, however, does not believe this reflects a shift in his standards. He encourages competent developers to use AI as a tool, but discourages \"drive-by patches\" and those who merely want to use AI without genuinely learning. Torvalds also acknowledged the benefits of AI in improving Linux code, including the deprecation of the Assisted-by tag, meaning developers can now use AI without needing to disclose its usage.",
  "summary": "Kernel maintainers stop asking who used AI, as long as the code is good",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}