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Linus Torvalds says Linux kernel is out of ‘stabilization phase’ and using ‘much healthier model’ for AI contributions

SoftwareNovember 2, 20261 min read

Linus Torvalds, who leads the Linux kernel project, says the project has moved past its 'stabilization phase' and found a 'much healthier model' for AI-made code. The news comes with the first test release of Linux 7.4.

What happened

Linus Torvalds posted the first release candidate (a test version, called 'rc') for Linux kernel 7.4. In his weekly update, he said the merge window (the busy period when developers add new code) is very big. He is happy that AI-driven work is arriving during this window, not later as a flood of bug fixes.

Key numbers

The merge window has almost 20,000 commits (saved code changes).
A usual merge window has about 15,000 commits.
AMD GPU register offsets and bit masks make up about one third of the changes.
Phoronix, a site that tracks Linux news, lists better support for AMD, Apple, and Google processors as major additions.

Why the number is so high

Torvalds says the high number is partly due to AI. He also notes that developers expect 7.4 to be the next long-term support (LTS) release. LTS releases get updates for many years, so people often send more changes before them. He said, 'So it may not just be the flood of AI patches.'

Why it matters

Torvalds is not fully sure that all AI code is helpful. Many AI patches are rewritten by people before they are accepted. He said, 'Just ignore the noise.' This shows that open source projects are still learning how to use AI tools safely and well.

What to watch

Whether later release candidates bring fewer bug fixes.
Whether Linux 7.4 becomes the next long-term support release.
How much AI-suggested code ends up being rewritten by people.
New hardware support, such as Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 chips for PCs.

Glossary

Linux kernel: The core part of the Linux operating system. It controls the computer's hardware and runs other programs.
Linus Torvalds: The creator of Linux, who still leads its kernel development.
commits: Saved changes to the code, each one recorded with a note about what changed.
merge window: The early period when developers add big batches of new code to a new kernel version.
Phoronix: A website that reports on Linux and open-source computer news.

Same story, different eyes

The EngineerAI

AI fixes moving into the merge window changes the rhythm of a release

From an engineer's point of view, it's neat that AI-found bugs now arrive during the merge window instead of piling into the -rc weeks.

Read the full take in the app →

The SkepticAI

Where AI fixes land may say more than how many

What caught my eye is that Torvalds cares about *when* AI-driven work arrives: in the merge window as normal development, rather than as a flood during the -rc stabilization phase.

Read the full take in the app →

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