I get angry when people say 99% of their code is written by AI: Linux creator
Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, has revealed that while AI can be a great tool for coders, he gets furious whenever he hears someone say that 99 per cent of their code was written by AI.a
AI is now everywhere, and for almost every task out there. And the biggest impact AI has arguably had is on coding. Tools like Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex are now being used widely as many switch to vibe coding – the use of AI to write code. But Linux creator, Linus Torvalds, says that coding still needs the human touch. So much so that Linus claimed that he gets angry whenever someone claims that almost all of their code was written by AI.
Linus Torvalds created Linux – an open-source operating system – in 1991. Since then, Linux has found favour amongst programmers, and is widely used globally in the majority of web servers and supercomputers.
At a time when companies like Anthropic claim that AI now writes almost all of its code, Linus believes that AI should actually be treated only as a tool. He said, as quoted by Zdnet, “My opinion has always been that AI is a great tool, but it's a tool.”
The Linux creator had strong views on those who believe that AI can write all the code for them. He added, “When I see people saying, 'hey, 99 per cent of our code is written by AI,' I literally get angry."
AI won’t change the fundamentals
Linus Torvalds accepted that AI was bringing change, but he stood firm to the fact that one needs to know the basics themselves. He explained, "I'm personally 100% convinced that AI is changing programming, but it's not changing the fundamentals."
According to the Linux creator, the impact of AI on coding was going to be similar to compilers. He added that AI tools “will increase your productivity by a factor of 10.” Compilers are tools that can turn human-readable code into machine-readable binary code.
Linus explained that the shift towards AI tools may be similar to how programmers moved to compilers in the past. He explained, “A lot of people will use AI to generate the code that the compilers use to generate the code that the assemblers then use to generate the machine code. This is revolutionary in the same sense that we've seen revolutions before."
AI is making it easier for new coders
Linus Torvalds agreed that AI tools lower the barrier for new coders, with more programmers now contributing to Linux. However, he believes that even if a new developer is using AI to code, it is important for them to understand what the generated code does.
He stated, “You need to understand not just your prompts, but you need to understand the end result too, because that's the only way you can maintain it long term.”
Do note that Linus’ comments come at a time when many companies are increasingly pushing for more AI-written code, such as Meta and Amazon, who are also laying off workers to invest more in AI. However, some seem to have similar views to Torvalds. Recently, C++ creator Bjarne Stroustrup has claimed that AI-generated code is so bad that many developers are actually retiring instead of dealing with it.
AI is now everywhere, and for almost every task out there. And the biggest impact AI has arguably had is on coding. Tools like Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex are now being used widely as many switch to vibe coding – the use of AI to write code. But Linux creator, Linus Torvalds, says that coding still needs the human touch. So much so that Linus claimed that he gets angry whenever someone claims that almost all of their code was written by AI.
Linus Torvalds created Linux – an open-source operating system – in 1991. Since then, Linux has found favour amongst programmers, and is widely used globally in the majority of web servers and supercomputers.
At a time when companies like Anthropic claim that AI now writes almost all of its code, Linus believes that AI should actually be treated only as a tool. He said, as quoted by Zdnet, “My opinion has always been that AI is a great tool, but it's a tool.”
The Linux creator had strong views on those who believe that AI can write all the code for them. He added, “When I see people saying, 'hey, 99 per cent of our code is written by AI,' I literally get angry."
AI won’t change the fundamentals
Linus Torvalds accepted that AI was bringing change, but he stood firm to the fact that one needs to know the basics themselves. He explained, "I'm personally 100% convinced that AI is changing programming, but it's not changing the fundamentals."
According to the Linux creator, the impact of AI on coding was going to be similar to compilers. He added that AI tools “will increase your productivity by a factor of 10.” Compilers are tools that can turn human-readable code into machine-readable binary code.
Linus explained that the shift towards AI tools may be similar to how programmers moved to compilers in the past. He explained, “A lot of people will use AI to generate the code that the compilers use to generate the code that the assemblers then use to generate the machine code. This is revolutionary in the same sense that we've seen revolutions before."
AI is making it easier for new coders
Linus Torvalds agreed that AI tools lower the barrier for new coders, with more programmers now contributing to Linux. However, he believes that even if a new developer is using AI to code, it is important for them to understand what the generated code does.
He stated, “You need to understand not just your prompts, but you need to understand the end result too, because that's the only way you can maintain it long term.”
Do note that Linus’ comments come at a time when many companies are increasingly pushing for more AI-written code, such as Meta and Amazon, who are also laying off workers to invest more in AI. However, some seem to have similar views to Torvalds. Recently, C++ creator Bjarne Stroustrup has claimed that AI-generated code is so bad that many developers are actually retiring instead of dealing with it.
