Linus Torvalds to Anti-AI Kernel Devs: You Can Dislike AI, But Don't Block Others

Bottom line

The Linux kernel mailing list flared up over AI again. The trigger: the AI code-review system Sashiko becoming active in the kernel workflow, plus an SFC advisory on AI use, sparking some developers' resistance to LLM tools. Linus Torvalds was blunt: you can dislike AI, but don't block others from using it.

The dispute

• AI code-review tools like Sashiko are entering open-source collaboration.
• Some kernel developers worry about LLM tools' reliability, copyright, and process impact.
• The SFC advisory further fueled the debate.

Why it matters

• This is a public split in a top-tier open-source community over AI entering the dev workflow—a bellwether.
• Linus's stance—neither forcing nor blocking—reflects a pragmatic view: let users judge whether a tool is useful, rather than banning it on ideology.

For any team bringing AI into engineering, the lesson: adoption friction is often about collaboration norms and human acceptance, not the technology.