- Linus Torvalds says he used AI only in a personal project without real consequences
- The code had nothing to do with Linux, Git or any production system.
- AI helped with unknown Python images, not core system or kernel logic
Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, has spent years rejecting exaggerated claims about artificial intelligence, describing much of the conversation about AI as driven more by marketing than practical results, and declaring that he is much less interested in AI for writing code.
At the same time, Torvalds has stressed that he is not against AI in principle, but rather firmly opposes the hype that often surrounds AI tools.
In that context, his recent admission that he used what he describes as “vibration coding” in a personal project has attracted attention.
A hobby project, not an infrastructure project
However, the context of this decision matters. The code in question appears on AudioNoise, a small personal repository that Torvalds himself calls a “silly project related to guitar pedals.”
It generates random digital audio effects and is not part of the Linux kernel, Git, or any other widely deployed system.
Torvalds has previously said that vibration keying is “fine” if you don’t use it for anything important, and it seems like this project fits his description perfectly.
Torvalds’ README explains why an AI coding tool came into the picture: Python’s visualizer component was out of its comfort zone.
In similar situations in the past, Torvalds said he would copy snippets from forum or Stack Overflow threads and tweak them until they worked; This time, it skipped that process and used Google Antigravity to generate the viewer directly.
In that sense, the tool functioned less as a creative engine and more as a similar shortcut to the familiar productivity tools developers already rely on.
The broader developer community remains divided, with some fearing that developers could become obsolete if AI can code, and others questioning how much trust, if any, AI-generated code deserves.
Torvalds’ comments above align with limited use. For him, AI is a tool for learning to code, automated patch checking, and code review.
“How do I feel about all the code I wrote that was absorbed by LLMs? I feel great to be a part of that, because I see this as a continuation of what I’ve tried to do my whole life: democratize code, systems and knowledge,” Torvalds wrote.
“LLMs will help us write better software, faster, and allow small teams the opportunity to compete with larger companies. The same thing that open source software did in the ’90s.”
He noted that such systems have detected problems that he overlooked, but this does not support code written by AI for core systems.
Even as people argue online, Torvalds was simply experimenting while on vacation. The episode suggests pragmatism rather than a change in philosophy.
Through ArsTechnica
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