Linux kernel drops its AI disclosure tag
Why it matters
Linux kernel maintainers removed the "Assisted-by" tag that asked contributors to label patches written with help from an LLM. Only about 10% of the 18,533 non-merge commits in Linux 7.3 (through -rc7) carried it, while actual LLM use is far more widespread: some contributors didn't know the rule, others left it off on purpose, and few maintainers asked, so a missing tag said nothing. The 2026 Maintainers Summit reached a "strong, though not unanimous" consensus to drop it, and docs maintainer Jonathan Corbet applied the patch to the kernel docs tree on Oct 14. Maintainers still want to know how a patch was made, now in the cover letter, and the DCO and submitter-responsibility rules stay. Linus Torvalds: "We're not going to make stupid rules that say 'you can't use tools for X'."
Read the source: Linux kernel mailing list (opens in a new tab)
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