Linus Torvalds says AI-powered duplicate bug reports have made the Linux kernel security mailing list nearly unmanageable, demanding reporters also submit patches.
Key Takeaways
Multiple researchers running the same AI tools produce redundant reports; maintainers spend their time forwarding duplicates or pointing to already-fixed bugs.
Torvalds argues AI-detected bugs are “not secret” by nature, making a private security list the wrong venue and compounding duplication.
His ask: if you used AI to find a bug, write a patch too; “drive-by” reports with no understanding add no value.
Fellow maintainer Greg Kroah-Hartman has separately called AI an increasingly useful tool for FOSS, showing the kernel team holds a nuanced, not hostile, position.
Hacker News Comment Review
Commenters pushed back on The Register framing Torvalds and Kroah-Hartman as contradicting each other; both positions are compatible and Torvalds himself praised AI tools used well.
No deeper technical or process debate has emerged yet beyond correcting the article’s framing.
