AI-written code reaches 17.25% of Linux Kernel patches in September
Independent tracking by Lundduke Journal shows a new record pace of AI-generated contributions flowing into the Linux Kernel.
What to know
- AI-generated code accounts for 17.25% of Linux Kernel patches submitted so far in September, according to independent tracking.
- The prior week set a new record with 1,634 AI-written code submissions to the kernel.
- The figures come from a single independent tracker (Lundduke Journal) rather than official Linux Foundation or kernel maintainer statistics.
- The claim has circulated widely via Hacker News and social/RSS mirrors but has not drawn substantive independent commentary in the material available.
Bryan Lunduke (LundukeJournal) Independent tracker/reporter of Linux Kernel AI contributions
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts
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“So far, in September, AI generated code has made up 17.25% of all Linux Kernel patches.”
— @LundukeJournal -
1 outlet first by HN Frontpage, 3d ago · read ↗
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Yet *another* record week for AI development of Linux. Last week there were 1,634 code submissions to the Linux Kernel which were written by AI. So far, in September, AI generated code has made up 17.25% of all Linux Kernel patches.
2 more of the top 3 · 14 posts in this stretch
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The code itself indeed has become cheap but the question still is out whether it solves the right problem. I've shifted my work significantly toward designing more high-level portions where multiple things would interact in somewhat unpredictable manner (read as failure modes) that's where I found the models being quite poor, they do suggest many…
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AI-assisted coding helps me a lot to churn through boilerplate, straightforward implementations, test writing, exploration of unfamiliar codebases, and other ancillary tasks in coding. It does not replace tacit knowledge/domain knowledge required to design a good solution, no matter how much of the architecture is described as documentation it…
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background
Linux Kernel logs record week of AI-written patches — 1,634 code submissions to the Linux Kernel in a single week were identified as AI-generated, described as another record for AI development activity in the kernel.
What people are saying 11 voices from 1 site · best of 14 · verbatim
- Sep 21
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This is awful. Linus Torvalds really surrendered the kernel to AI slop. He was warned, and he made nasty comments to those who called him out, but he owns this mess now.
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Did Bryan Lunduke measure incoming patches or actual merged patches? Are the AI patches bigger on average? Who or what says the patch was made with AI in the fitst place?
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I still don't get how are they dealing with copyright here. Looks like the ostrich algorithm (hide your head in the sand and pretend nothing happens).Those patches are not copyrightable unless human made. There's a reason why Oracle doesn't accept AI contributions to Java.
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So the Linux kernel has now just become by definition "slop"? I mean, there is a definition here which says it is now "tainted". [0]Does that mean we should stop using it?[0]
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All you need to us actually look around, has software quality dramatically increased over the last year? Have useful features been coming out at an unprecedented rate?Because after all this talk about being left behind and I see nothing to show for it.
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> In September, AI generated code has made up 17.25% of all Linux Kernel patchesI'm curious ... how would they even know?
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Please don’t do this if your livelihood depends on it. You’re just going to make your life more painful.As a professional programmer, you’re selling a service. The people buying your service have fully bought into AIs and accepted their shortcomings. You can’t fight this.You can still scratch your itch with hobby apps, or contributing to…
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Seems low. 80% people are manually typing in things? In my circle it's close to 0% code written manually.Do linux devs live in a completely different microcosm?
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The pressure to use LLMs is high in the companies that sell shovels in this gold rush. It would look bad if they did not use them. Linux developers work at those companies.
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If that makes you feel better, the guy who vibecoded an app in one sitting will probably have 0 clue on how the code works, the app itself will look like the average claude eyesore and the docs will be unreadable by humans without stimulants
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I really don't know what to feel about AI generated code. It's clear that it improves velocity dramatically in code output. It has some value to it. But what is the cost?While I code without the help of AI, sometimes I feel like I am being left behind.Ohh you wrote only 400 lines today? I shipped a whole app while being in the gym... hits hard.